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'/Ul. 



MEMOIR OF A MECHANIC, 



BEING A SKETCH OF THE 



^•' 



LIFE OF TIMOTHY CLAXTON, 



WRitTEN BY HIMSELF. 



TOGETHER WITH 



MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS. 



BOSTON -_, 
GEORGE W. LIGHT, 1 CORNHILL 

NEW YORK :— 126 Fulton Street. 

1839. 




/ 



p 



{*> 



^^ 



d' 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1839, by 
George W. Light, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court 
of Massachusetts. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. CHILDHOOD. 

Birth and parentage. Early education. A benevolent 
lady. Occupations. Disposition. Anecdotes. . 9—14 



CHAPTER II. APPRENTICESHIP. 

Arrangements. Benefits of a little learning. A useful 
friend. An intelligent journeyman with an ignorant 
master. An attempt at clock-making. Writing and 
composition — Advantages of practising them. Draw- 
ing. Apprenticeship happily ended 15—24 



CHAPTER III. RESIDENCE IN LONDON. 

Manner of spending time. The industrious find enough 
to do. Experiments on perpetual motion. Ingenious 
mouse-traps. Female acquaintance. New friends. 
Marriage 25—32 



CHAPTER IV. SCIENTIFIC IMPROVEMENT. 

A new field of thought. Scientific lectures and studies. 
Formation of the Mechanical Institution. Its his- 
tory 33—36 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER V. RESIDENCE IN RUSSIA. 

Arrival at St. Petersburg. Description of the building in 
which the writer was employed. Difficulties. Their 
settlement. Recommendation. An accident. A threat- 
ened explosion. More scared than hurt. . . . 37—44 



CHAPTER VI. THE ARTS IN RUSSIA. 

Russian workmen. Public buildings. Carpenters. Ma- 
sons. Useful contrivances. Carriages and horses. 
Academy of Arts. The Emperor's Hermitage. The 
Summer Palace 45 — 54 



CHAPTER VII. FIRST ADVENTURES IN AMERICA. 

Employment during the passage to America. Excur- 
sions in the country. First impressions. Anecdote. 
Residence at Methuen. Reading society. Amuse- 
ments, &c 55 — 64 



CHAPTER VIII. RESIDENCE AND OCCUPATION 
IN BOSTON. 

How employed. Making of school and philosophical 
apparatus. Causes of success. Loss of shop and 
materials by fire. Good fortune comes at last. . 65 — 72 



CHAPTER IX. INVENTIONS. 

Small Air-pump. Experiments performed with it. How 
invented. Large Air-pump. Medium sized Air-pump, 
Bottle-proving machine 73 — 80 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER X. SOCIETIES IN BOSTON. 

Boston Mechanics' Institution. Its history. Classes* 
Charitable Mechanics' Association. Boston Lyceum. 
Mechanics' Lyceum. The Essayist. The Young 
Mechanic. Franklin Lectures. ...... 81 — 92 



CHAPTER XI. HOME REVISITED. 

Anticipations. Visits to friends. London. Early im- 
pressions. Occupations. Formation of the Bungay 
Lyceum. " Hints to Mechanics." Engagement in 
manufacturing apparatus 93 — 100 



MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS. 

Introduction, 101 

Origin of Mechanics' Institutions, 104 

London Mechanical Institution, 126 

Methuen Literary Society, 133 

Boston Mechanics' Lyceum, . 135 

The Ignis Fatuus, 138 

A Paper for all, 139 

Hints on the Economy of Heat, 140 

New Air Engine, 142 

Perpetual Motion a Perpetual Notion, 143 

Theory and Practice, 146 

Hydrostatic Lamps, 147 

A New Discovery — Apprentices' Library Associations, 150 

Amphibious Steamer, 153 

1 



] 



4 CONTENTS. 

Society for the Encouragement of Mechanical Genius, 155 

Warming Rooms, 157 

The Present Condition of the Working Classes, . . 160 

Extracts from Letters, 162 

Russian Recommendation, 167 

The Young Mechanic, 168 

Mr. Claxton's Inventions, 172 

The Bungay Lyceum, 173 

«' Hints to Mechanics," 176 



PREFACE. 



The sketch of the Hfe of Mr. Timothy 
Claxton, which I have the pleasure of present- 
ing to his friends and the pubUc, has been for 
two or three years in the course of preparation, 
having been delayed from time to time, in 
the expectation of receiving additional mate- 
rials from him. We have now received docu- 
ments, the addition of which, we believe, will 
greatly enhance the value and interest of the 
book. His affairs in England being for the 
present established, it has been thought best to 
defer the publication of the work no longer. 

Mr. Claxton is a man well known and much 
respected among us, not only as an industrious 
and ingenious manufacturer of school and phi- 
losophical apparatus, but as a zealous and 
efficient promoter of the cause of popular im- 



O PREFACE. 

provemeiit, especially among the mechanic 
classes. 

The papers from which this volume has 
been compiled were entrusted by Mr, C. to 
my care, as an intimate friend and associate, 
on his leaving this country in 1836, with the 
permission of making such selections for pub- 
lication, and such verbal corrections in the 
matter, as should be judged proper. The first 
part, or Memoir, is, in fact, an autobiography, 
which has been re- written from a sketch first 
published in the Young Mechanic, (a periodi- 
cal some time since printed in this city,) enti- 
tled " Memoir of a Mechanic," and continued 
by the author up to the present time. 

" It was thought by my friends," he says, 
" that it would be useful towards the encour- 
agement of young men who, like myself, begin 
the world poor, and deficient in education ; 
and also in showing, in some degree, what 
may be done by industry, perseverance and 
economy of money and time, by those who are 
obliged to leave school at an early age, to 
attend to some mechanical occupation as a 
means of subsistence." 



PREFACE. 7 

Similar motives have since led to the com- 
pletion of the Memoir to the present time, 
blended with such accounts of institutions for 
the improvement of mechanics and others, as 
it might seem proper to insert — and to its pub- 
lication in the present form. 

To the Memoir has been appended a selec- 
tion of Miscellaneous Papers, consisting chiefly 
of articles written by him, serving to illustrate 
the subject matter of the Memoir itself, and to 
set in a clearer light some things which were 
there but slightly touched upon. The most 
important of these articles, is an account of 
the origin of Mechanics' Institutions, which, 
though brief, is interesting, and, we have 
reason to presume, more accurate than any 
which is already known to the public in this 
country. 

As to the manner in which the task of pre- 
paring this volume has been performed, it may 
be remarked that the matter of the Memoir 
has been altogether newly arranged, and di- 
vided into chapters, for the sake of perspicuity; 
though, with the exception of slight verbal 
alterations, and indeed a sentence here and 



8 PREFACE. 

there added, where the abruptness of the ori-| 
ginal made it necessaryj the language is en- 
tirely that of Mr. Claxton himself. His style, 
it will be observed, is a matter-of-fact style, 
dry in the extreme ; and yet so simple, honest! 
and straight-forward, as to be interesting on, 
that very account. 

The likeness which fronts the title-page 
was engraved on steel in London, from an oil 
painting by Mr. S. S. Osgood, of Boston, 
which has been procured since Mr. Claxton's 
return to England. The small air-pump is 
represented in the engraving, as being the 
germ, as it were, of those subsequent improve- 
ments and inventions by which Mr. Claxton 
has so favorably distinguished himself. 

It is but just to add, in conclusion, that 
having been unable, on account of my business 
engagements, to devote that time to this work 
which I should have been glad to do, I have 
been very materially assisted in it by Mr. 
D. H. Howard, a scientific friend of mine 
residing with me, who was also on terms of 
intimacy with Mr. Claxton, before he left this 
country. 



PREFACE. 9 

The result, such as it is, of my efforts to do 
justice to my absent friend, and thereby to 
encourage my fellow mechanics in the noble 
work of self-improvement, is respectfully sub- 
mitted to the public. 

The Publisher. 

Boston^ JunCi 1839. 



I 



MEMOIR OF A MECHANIC. 



CHAPTER I. 



CHILDHOOD. 



Birth and parentage. Early education. A benevolent lady. 
Occupations. Disposition. Anecdotes. 

I WAS born in England, the 22d of August, 
1790, at Earsham, Norfolk, near Bungay, 
Suffolk, about one hundred miles from the 
metropolis. My father's name was Thomas 
Claxton. He was for thirty-five years a gar- 
dener at Earsham Hall, in the service of three 
successive employers of the family of Wind- 
ham. 

My parents, though poor, were honest and 
industrious. Neither of them could read or 
write ;. and feeling this deficiency in them- 
selves, they were determined to do what they 
could for their children, (five in number, two 
older and two younger than myself) They 
2 



10 MEMOIR OF A MECHANIC. 

put me, at the age of five or six years, to a 
school kept by a woman ; and at seven, I was 
sent to a school-master, whose name was Wil- 
ham Simpson, in the adjacent market town of 
Bungay, for two years, except during harvest 
time, when I was taken away to assist my 
mother in gleaning, which is a great help to- 
the poor in that part of the country. 

My schooling was paid for by a benevolent 
lady, the Hon. Mrs. Windham, (she being the 
daughter of a lord, and the wife of a country 
squire,) who, while she lived, kept six boys 
and six girls at school for two years each; one 
half of whom left school every year, to make 
room for new ones. I feel it my duty to record 
the goodness of this amiable woman. She not 
only instructed the ignorant, but fed, warmed 
and clothed those who were in need. I made 
the best of this opportunity to get a little 
learning, which was confined to reading, wri- 
ting and arithmetic ; and was tolerably quick 
at the latter. When I left school, I had 
reached the Rule of Three ; being then about 
nine years old. 

Sometimes it was difficult to find suitable 
children to send. In my own case, I was sent 
a year earlier than usual, to fill a vacancy 
occasioned by a boy being dismissed from 
school^ after three months' trial. He was a 



CHILDHOOD. 11 

dunce, and in the habit of playing truant. 
This the master could not allow, as his credit 
was at a stake; for this lady obliged him, 
with his twelve scholars, to attend at her 
mansion every year, where each used to read 
and answer questions. She would inquire of 
those about to leave school, what books they 
had ; and order the master to furnish them 
such as she thought they needed most. After 
this ceremony was over, she gave each of us 
a shilling, and told us to proceed to a room 
where we sat down to a sumptuous dinner, 
and were attended by the servants. 

My father, being a day-laborer, had no par- 
ticular employment for me ; so to keep me 
from mischief, after I left school, I was set to 
spinning wool by hand, a year or more, after 
which I was released to take care of a flock of 
sheep, which fed by the road-side in the day- 
time, and were turned into a field at night. 

I disliked this employment very much, from 
fear of losing any of them ; and I often counted 
them many times a day. They often broke into 
other persons' enclosures. At such times they 
were very noisy : the old ones would call 
their young towards them, whenever they 
were about to leap a fence. In fact, I became 
so tired of their noise, that the bleating of a 
sheep gave me pain for years afterward. 



12 MEMOIR OF A MECHANIC. 

I was next engaged to work in a garden for 
supplying the market with vegetables, until I 
was between twelve and thirteen years of age, 
when I w^as apprenticed to a trade. 

I was tender-hearted, timid, and very bash- 
ful. Still, I was not deficient in courage, 
when put to the test ; but it seemed to lie 
dormant, until called forth by some emer- 
gency. This disposition, which, in a modified 
form, has clung to me through life, prevented 
my being an assailant, but was very useful 
when I was placed in the situation of a de- 
fendant. 

I used to get as far out of the way as I 
could, when my father had a pig killed, or 
was putting a ring into the nose of one; for I 
could not bear to hear the cries of these or 
of any other animals. So, when I see horses 
going up hill where it is slippery, I am sure to 
turn my head another way. And yet I have 
witnessed executions at the Old Bailey, though 
it has cost me some feeling ; and I have fre- 
quently gone out of my way, to avoid the 
sight even of the preparations. 

I was so timid that it was a great trial for 
me to go into lonesome places after dark; but 
1 was put to the test one night, by a young 
man who tried to frighten me, by way-laying 
me on my way home, while I was an appren- 



CHILDHOOD. 13 

tice. He concealed himself in a lonely place, 
and when I came nearly opposite, he began 
creeping on his hands and knees towards me, 
having a dark, shaggy coat on, with the cape 
drawn over his head. He expected 1 should 
run, and then he could run after me ; but 
I crossed towards this unsightly object, and 
touching it with the end of a small stick, soon 
found it was a substance of some sort, when I 
was relieved from my suspense by my gentle- 
man standing up and laughing. I laid my 
stick on his back, and said it was well for him 
1 had not a larger one with me. 

At another time, a strange young man took 
my walking stick from me, by watching his 
opportunity, while I was seeing the volunteers 
go through their manoeuvres on Bungay Com- 
mon, one holiday. He was much older and 
stronger than I, and I gave it up for lost, not 
having any person with me who would inter- 
fere. But about half an hour afterwards, 
when the companies had been dismissed, I 
saw the man, with my stick, sitting on the 
stocks in the market place, between several 
other strangers from out of town. I went up 
to him, and demanded my stick ; but he only 
laughed, when I seized it with both hands, 
giving him a push backwards, and with a 
sudden twist, wrenched it from him. He did 



14 MEMOIR OF A MECHANIC. 

not rise from his seat, and the other men 
laughed heartily, which made him look very- 
foolish. This little feat shows that the con- 
sciousness of right strengthens the weak, 
while the guilty are easily confounded. 



CHAPTER II. 



APPRENTICESHIP. 



Avran^'ements. Benefits of a little learning. A useful 
friend. An intelligent journeyman with an ignorant mas- 
ter. An attempt at clock-making. Writing and compo- 
sition — Advantages of practising them. Drawing. Ap- 
prenticeship happily ended. 

My father had some rjotion of putting me to 
the trade of a painter and glazier; but I did 
not Hke the idea of working on ladders and 
temporary stages, suspended in front of lofty 
buildings. I had, fina^lly, to decide between 
the trades of a carpenter and a whitesmith. 
I made choice of the latter, and was appren- 
ticed to Mr. John Bobbit, at Bungay ; and I 
do not recollect that I have ever regretted it, 
although I have practised that and similar 
branches for more than thirty years — com- 
mencing April 6, 1803. 

My agreement was to serve seven years, 
and receive a certain sum weekly as wages ; 
^nd if I served my time out duly and truly, 
my master promised to give me ten pounds. 



16 MEMOIR OF A MECHANIC. 

My father was to find me in board, lodging 
and clothing ; and as he hved about a mile 
from my master's shop, I had that distance 
to walk every morning and evening. We 
worked from six in the morning until seven in 
the evening, taking out an hour and a half 
for meal times. On Saturday night, we left 
work at six o'clock. 

I had not been long at my trade, before I 
found the benefit of my schooling. There 
were two other apprentices, much older than 
myself, neither of whom could take an account 
of the work as it was delivered from the shop. 
The foreman was very glad to put this task 
upon me ; and I was as willing to do it. The 
master was engaged in his sale-shop, (hard- 
ware store.) and the apprentices were occa- 
sionally called upon to assist when he was 
absent, or on a market day. This, together 
with the great variety of work done in our 
shop, afi:brded considerable scope for the abili- 
ties of any young man. We either made or 
repaired almost every article made of metal 
used about a house, whether in its structui'^ 
or in doniestie affairs, together with tools used 
by mechanics, and some work for mills. 

The first money I received was at Christ- 
mas time, when the apprentices have the privi- 
lege of calling on their master's customers for 



APPRENTICESHIP. 17 

a Christmas box. My share was about half 
a guinea, with which I bought a Bible con- 
taining the Apocrypha, (as I wished to have 
it complete.) and a thick cyphering book. At 
the beginning of the year 1804, I began arith- 
metic ancYv^, going throngh more thoroughly 
than I had done at school — writing in every 
rule and case, and using a greater variety of 
examples. 

I sought advice and assistance from any- 
body and everybody that came in my way. 
One of the most efficient of my advisers was a 
journeyman carpenter. He had several books 
full of examples in mensuration of superficies 
and solids, embracing the methods of measur- 
ing various kinds of artificers' work. The 
figures or diagrams were very neatly drawn. 
I had several lessons of an evening from this 
man ; but he was soon taken away, having to 
undergo a surgical operation. He died a few 
days afterwards. 

I never was more sorry at the loss of a rela- 
tion, that at losing this man, as I had made 
up my mind to study as much as T could with 
him. His books were purchased of his widow, 
by his employer — a numb-skull at writing, 
whose accounts were kept by his wife. 

This employer used to delight in teasing his 
journeyman about his knowledge. "Tern," 



18 MEMOIR OF A MECHANIC. 

said he, sitting one day at a tavern, '' there is 
a coach going by : tell me how many times 
the hind wheel will turn round in going to 
London." " Give me the size of it," was the 
reply. ^' Oh, any fool can do it so : you ought 
to tell without that." He was often treated 
so in company, by way of derision. Thus 
people undervalue what they cannot reach. 

Sometimes, however, poor Tom had the ad- 
vantage over his employer. The lady I have 
spoken of wrote to the carpenter, on a certain 
time, requesting him to build a pheasant house, 
to be placed in a shrubber^^ near the mansion. 
The form was to be a hexagon, if the thatcher 
€ould thatch.it of that shape. He soon began 
to coax Tom, to get him into a good humor; 
for he verily believed him to be the only man 
from whom he could learn the number of sides 
in a hexagon. Tom referred him to his brother 
John and others, but to no purpose. At last 
he told this very cunning man the number 
of sides it contained. By purchasing Tom's 
books, he expected to be able to beat every- 
body in the neighborhood. I wished to obtain 
them ; but that was impossible. 

My leisure time was now devoted partly io 
study, and partly to mechanical pursuits. I 
made several curious articles during my ap- 
prenticeship, of which the one of most conse- 



APPRENTICESHIP. 19 

qiience was a clock. The death of my friend 
above-mentioned gave me an opportunity to 
purchase a small bench vice, and some other 
tools, of his widow. I made myself a small 
lathe, chiefly of wood, and several other tools, 
before I commenced on my clock. It was 
in the examination of a large church clock 
that my attention was first drawn to the sub- 
ject. The wheels being large, it looked more 
simple than a common clock. The principal 
difficulty I apprehended was in the motions 
necessary for the hands, where some of the 
axes pass through the others. The materials 
to which I had access were not very suitable 
for the work; however, I commenced opera- 
tions. 

It will be understood that, as I lived so far 
ofl", my meals were taken in the shop — my 
mother putting what was necessary for me to 
take every morning into a small basket. This 
plan gave me considerable time to prepare 
those parts at the shop that I could not do so 
well at home. My master never expressed 
any objection to my amusing myself in this 
way : in fact, he did not trouble himself about 
it. I prepared two plates of sheet iron for the 
frame. These were kept at a suitable distance 
apart by four pieces of iron wire, which were 
riveted into the back plate. The front plate 



20 MEMOIR OF A MECHANIC. 



1 



was movable. These plates were bushed with 
brass, wherever it was necessary for the pivots 
of the several axes to pass through them. 
This, in point of utility, was as well as though 
the plates had been made wholly of brass. 
The wheels were of sheet brass, cut from the 
bottoms of old brass kettles. It was too thin, 
but it was the best I could get. Having pre- 
pared my wheels, and fastened them on pieces 
of wire, the turning, dividing and cutting the 
teeth were performed at home. 

I often smile, when I think of the scene 
which presented itself, when I first began. It 
was winter time : my mother was sitting on 
one side of the fire, and the other was occu- 
pied by some other members of the family. 
As it was very cold, that part of the table 
farthest from the fire was vacant. I screwed 
my vice on this side, and pinched my lathe in 
the vice ; putting my axle, with the wheel on 
it, between the dead centres of the lathe. The 
motion was given by a drill bow, the string of 
which passed round a whirl, placed tempora- 
rily on the axis. This bow is moved by the 
left hand, while the tool is held firmly in the 
right. In this manner, the wheels, pinions 
and pivots were all turned. The dividing was 
done by a pair of small spring dividers: and 
the teeth were formed with a file. 



APPRENTICESHIP. 21 

Parts of the work required hammering. This 
was more than some of the family could en- 
dure; and it induced them to furnish me with 
a separate light, and I had to decamp. I 
found a place up stairs, screwed my vice to 
the banister rail, and, with a piece or two of 
board, I formed a bench; and 1 was now fixed 
for the winter. 

The following summer, I fitted up a much 
better establishment in a shed in the yard, 
where I completed my task, to the wonder- 
ment of all the old ladies in the neighborhood, 
but not exactly to my own satisfaction ; al- 
though it was as well as could be expected, 
taking all the circumstances into view. It 
kept time tolerably well, and would show the 
hour and minute on the front dial. It had an 
hour hand on each side : I had never seen 
this before, although I had heard of it. The 
weight moved only thirteen inches, and re- 
quired winding up once in about four days 
and a half 

It is impossible for one who has never tried 
it, to conceive what pleasure there is in at- 
tempts of this kind, especially when the mind 
marks out tracks that have never been trodden 
before. Sometimes months, and even years 
must elapse, before the object of our pursuit 
can be brought to an issue, during which time 



22 MEMOIR OF A MECHANIC. 

there is a strong belief that the thing can be 
accompHshed ; although many unforeseen dif- 
ficulties occur, which set us to thinking still 
more earnestly. Now and then a faint ray of 
light seems to point out the course we must 
pursue : by and by, a blaze, as it were, bursts 
upon us ; and the object can now be accom- 
plished with ease. This brings pleasure some- 
what in proportion to the labor spent in 
searching for it; or according to the benefit 
likely to arise to mankind, or to the individual 
making the discovery; modified, of course, by 
the disposition of the person engaged in the 
operation. 

Many times have I been thus bent upon the 
accomplishment of some object that required 
great attention, which I found was more easily 
done in the night, when the family had retired 
to rest, and all around Avas still. At such 
times, sleep would be banished from my eyes • 
there being something so fascinating in my 
pursuit, that the time flew unconsciously by ; 
and I retired to bed, rather to prevent the 
interference of others than for the sake of rest. 

Though my father, as I have already men- 
tioned, could neither read nor write, he was 
very fond of hearing all his children read : 
indeed, he made it a practice to hear us read 
the scriptures, every Sunday after dinner. He 



APPRENTICESHIP. 23 

sometimes had letters to write, most of which, 
during my apprenticeship, fell to my lot. At 
first, he used to dictate what he wished to 
have written ; afterwards he only gave me a 
general idea of what he wanted, and left the 
rest to my discretion. The neighbors would 
also occasionally get me to write for them. 
This gave me confidence; so that, although a 
bad writer to this day. I have not been very 
diffident in committing anything with which 
I was acquainted to paper, 

I now feel, more than ever, the benefit of 
thus early attempting to write short epistles, 
or essays. Having some acquaintance with 
the periodical press, I know the difficulty of 
getting young men, not only among mechanics, 
but in all classes, to communicate what they 
know. They have leisure enough, but the 
task is too hard, because they have never been 
used to it. 

I had considerable patience with anything 
that I undertook willingly; For instance, my 
father borrowed a book containing two ser~ 
mons, a prayer, and some other short pieces. 
He was very fond of it, and did not know 
how to get a copy. I offered to write a copy, 
if he would find the paper. This occupied 
my leisure time for several weeks ; but I fin- 
ished it, in spite of the jokes of my compan- 



24 MEMOIR OF A MECHANIC. 

ions; for it was no easy matter to turn me 
from anything I had set my mind upon. 

I had some taste for drawing; but found it 
difficult to make much progress, situated as I 
was. Gaudy pictures were much more easily 
made than correct representations : however, 
by perseverance, and having a better chance 
as I grew older, 1 succeeded in mechanical 
drawing to my wishes ; and also tolerably 
well in the ornamental department. 

From what has been said, it may be thought 
that I always had business enough on hand 
to keep me from mischief I have sometimes, 
however, engaged in the excesses common 
among young men; but soon something disa- 
greeable would happen, and then I would re- 
turn to my more innocent, as well as more 
profitable amusements. I used to be glad 
when a holiday occurred, for then I could do 
more than in many evenings. 

Thus passed away my seven years' appren- 
ticeship. I served my time out " duly and 
truly," and my master gave me ten pounds 
with my indenture. He asked me what I was 
going to do. I told him I was going to Lon- 
don. "Well," said he, shaking my hand, 
*' keep your right hand forward, and you will 
do well." 



CHAPTER III. 



RESIDENCE IN LONDON. 



Manner of spending time. The industrious find enough to 
do. Experiments on perpetual motion. Ingenious mouse- 
traps. Female acquaintance. New friends. Marriage. 

I ARRIVED in London in April, 1810. Here 
many new scenes were presented to my view. 
In such a place, among so great a variety, it 
is difficult to confine one's self to what is most 
beneficial. My habits were fixed, however, 
and I adhered to my former plans. It should 
be understood that I had been bred up in a 
part of the country where agriculture is the 
chief employment of the people; that I had 
seen very little of manufacturing or of ma- 
chinery ; that, in fact, I had never seen a 
steam-engine, nor heard a lecture on any 
branch of science, nor even seen a book on 
any subject connected Avith the arts and sci- 
ences, except one on geography, borrowed for 
a short time. 

Such was my situation, when I visited the 
metropohs. I obtained work immediately: 
3 



26 MEMOIR OF A MECHANIC. 

and I may here observe that, to this day, I 
have never been without regular employment^ 
except when I have been travelling for my 
own pleasure ] nor even then but for short 
periods. 

It was nearly two years before I adopted 
any regular system of passing my leisure time, 
most of which was spent in visiting places of 
note, or objects of curiosity. About this time^ 
I procured a good lathe, and some other tools. 
Now, also, I had engaged a partner for hfe; 
and having a home where I could amuse 
myself in my own way, I pursued from this 
time a regular course ; sometimes making va- 
rious mechanical contrivances, while at others 
1 practised drawing. The latter is a very 
good amusement for a young mechanic. It 
helps him to understand what he reads, as the 
engravings in books become easy to his com- 
prehension. It also habituates him to nice 
observation, assists his memory, and is the 
cheapest amusement I am acquainted with. 
It makes very little noise or dirt ; and by hav- 
ing things portable, they may be got out and 
packed away in a very short time. Drawing 
is more or less useful to all ; and is essential 
to the successful practice of some trades. 

I was at this time employed in a large ma- 
chine shop^ belonging to the celebrated Joba 



RESIDENCE IN LONDON. 27 

Braithwaite, among men from various parts of 
the country. In such a place, many vahiable 
ideas may be picked up ; but great care is 
necessary, for there are so many erroneous 
notions prevaiUng among workmen generally, 
that a young man may easily be led astray. 
An error among many of them was a belief 
in the possibility of finding out the perpetual 
motion, or of constructing a self-moving ma- 
chine. I labored for some time under this 
delusion, and spent much time in the pursuit 
of what I am now perfectly satisfied cannot 
be accomplished. 

My first attempt was, to make the descend- 
ing side of a wheel heavier than the ascending 
side, by causing movable parts to approach 
and recede from its centre; but let me modify 
it as I would, there were always a greater 
number of these movable parts on the ascend- 
ing side, so that, though they were made to 
recede further from the centre after passing 
the top, they were fewer in number on the 
descending side, and the wheel would turn 
as well backwards as forwards. Many other 
methods were tried — some of them with fluids. 
A syphon was made with the short leg much 
larger than the long one, that it might contain 
a greater weight of water and over-balance 
that in the long leg ; but I found it was ne- 



28 MEMOIR OF A MECHANIC. 

cessary that the discharging end should be 
lower than the surface of the water in the 
vessel, whatever might be the form of the 
syphon. 

I can hardly tell whether the following whim 
of mine is worth relating : — A young man 
made a box trap for catching mice, and was 
showing it as a specimen of his ingenuity. 
''Now," said I, "if you had made it so that 
after the mouse was caught, he would set the 
trap ready for another, and then go and drown 
himself, it would have been worth something." 
" That is impossible," he exclaimed ; " that is 
more than you can do." I told him I would 
produce one in a fortnight's time : and so I 
did ; and after that another, more simple than 
the first. 

These mouse-traps were pronounced to be 
the greatest curiosities in my collection, which 
was tolerably large. The first trap consisted 
of a box, open at one end, with a wire grating 
at the other. When the mouse entered the 
trap, and began nibbling the cheese, the door 
at which he entered would fall down. There 
was a hole in the side of the box, on pushing 
his way through which, he raised the end of a 
lever, which started some clock-work placed 
on the top of the box, by which the trap was 
set again ; while the noise of the wheels would 



RESIDENCE IN LONDON. 29 

SO Startle the little fellow, that he would run 
up inside of a spiral tube, into a jar of water, 
before he was aware of it. In the second trap, 
instead of clock-work, it was so contrived that 
the mouse would set it by turning a hollow 
wheel, like a squirrel cage. After entering the 
wheel, he must either work, or stop there ; but 
the instant the trap was set, a little door 
opened on one side of the wheel, when he 
would escape from it, to be let down by a 
trap-door into the water. 

The first time I saw my destined wife, she 
was taking a walk in company with another 
female, a neighbor's daughter, who attracted 
my attention. I introduced myself to the latter, 
who was the taller of the two, and whose 
features were rather striking, at first sight. 
After a little conversation, we took some trifling 
refreshment together, which is a common thing 
at the various tea-gardens in the suburbs of 
London, during the summer season, with both 
young and old, among the middling classes of 
society. I then escorted the ladies nearly 
home ; and we agreed to meet again the next 
Sunday afternoon. 

The few minutes we had spent over our 
refreshment were suflicient for me to discover 
a vast difference in the manners, as well as 



30 MEMOIR OF A MECHANIC. 

the circumstances of the two females. The 
taller one was continually calling the other 
"Miss Hannah;" and not having much else 
to talk aboutj she began upon home affairs, 
such as, " My mother is coming to your house, 
Miss Hannah, to-morrow morning early, to 
wash;" "My father has not much work to 
do," &c. In short, enough was said to give 
me an insight into the relative condition of 
the two families ; that the family of the tall 
one was supported, in part, by the family of 
the other, and that Miss Hannah, being of an 
affable and sprightly turn, was allowed the 
indulgence of going out occasionally with the 
other, but was plainly dressed, to avoid attrac- 
tion. 

Here, I thought, was a chance of being 
connected with a respectable family. Our 
weekly meetings were continued for about 
two months, when I thought it high time to 
see how the parents felt about the matter ; 
although I was not entirely in the dark about 
it, as I understood that a favorable impression 
had been made in the right quarter; but still, 
the lady hesitated about introducing me at 
home. Things had now been carried as far 
as was prudent, before advising with her pa- 
rents ; and I, to cut the matter short, wrote a 
letter to the lady's father, telling him how 



RESIDENCE IN LONDON. 31 

long I had been acquainted with his daughter, 
who 1 was, and what were my intentions ; 
■observing that ihe acquaintance had better 
proceed no farther, unless it met with his 
approbation. After a few days I received the 
following answer: 

" Sir : — Your letter of Wednesday evening 
1 have read over to my wife and daughter 
Hannah. All of us are well pleased with your 
eandjd proposal of becoming allied to our 
family. If 3^ou please to call on me at 113 
Bonliill Rov/, on Sunday next, at eleven or 
half past eleven o'clock, I shall be giad to see 
yon, and have leisure for nearer conversation. 
Generally, we dine about tw^o o'clock, when 
your partaking of our fa."mily fare without 
ceremony, will oblige us." 

I waited on the good gentleman at the ap- 
pointed time, and spent a very agreeable day 
with the fami^^ which was Jarge and quite 
interesting. That there should be no mistake 
about my being welcome at the house, the father 
sent me,- a few days after, the following note : 

"Sir: — If 3^ou can make it agreeable to your- 
self, and take a bit of dinner with us to-mor- 
row, by two o'clock, we shall be glad to see 
you. Come as early as you can make it con- 
i^eiiient." 



32 MEMOIR OF A MECHANIC 

From this time I had a general invitation ; 
and there was only one difficulty in my way, 
which I luckily escaped ; although many a 
one has found it unfortunate to have been 
placed in a similar situation. I allude to a 
young man's being suddenly introduced among 
a number of females, all possessing charms of 
various kinds, so bewitching that it requires 
some resolution to keep the affections from 
wandering. But as I never delighted in 
wounding the feelings of any one, it seemed 
impossible for me to do so to a confiding 
female, who was in every respect worthy of 
my tender regards. As my plans were upon a 
moderate scale, it did not take long to mature 
them ; for we were married in four or five 
months from our first meeting; and by mutual 
endeavors to please, as well as by mutual for- 
bearance, we have lived together more than a 
quarter of a century, with much less jarring 
than is generally experienced •: and yet we 
have had some trials, having lived under three 
different governments, and travelled about ten 
thousand miles together. 



CHAPTER IT. 

SCIENTIFIC IMPROVEMENT. 

A new field of thought. Scientific lectures and studies. 
Formation of the Mechanical Institution. Its history. 

I HAVE now arrived at what I consider the 
most important period of my Hfe. Up to this 
time, I had had no instruction, after leaving 
school, but what I could get in a very uncer- 
tain and precarious manner ; when, being just 
turned of twenty-five years of age, I hap- 
pened to see a notice of a course of Lectures 
on Natural Philosophy and Chemistry, by Mr. 
Tatum. The very names of the subjects to be 
treated on, such as Pneumatics, Hydrodynam- 
ics^ Aerostation, &c., were all Latin to me. 
On farther examination, however, I found un- 
der the various heads, some account of the 
experiments illustrative of steam-engines, and 
other things that I wished to be acquainted 
with. I bought a ticket ; and was so pleased, 
the first time, that 1 took notes of the lecture^ 
and some sketches of the apparatus, (for I was 



34 MEMOIR OF A MECHANIC. 

seldom without my pocket book and pencil.) 
On returning home, I sat up very late, to write 
out all that I could remember of the lecture. 
I continued to attend these lectures weekly, 
from October, 18J5, to the April following, 
taking notes of all that was important to me. 

The following summer, I procured a book 
on Natural Philosophy, which contained an 
account of the various things I had seen in 
the lectures. I also made many articles with 
which I tried experiments; and 1 succeeded 
so well as to be induced to attend a second 
course of these lectures, besides several others, 
given by different persons. 

At length, I applied for membership to a 
philosophical society ; but not having friends 
enough at court, I was not received. This 
did not turn me aside from my pursuit, but 
stimulated me to use all my efforts to improve 
the class to which I belonged. No — it made 
me redouble my exertions. I reasoned thus: 
I am a mechanic; that is the difficult^^ AVell; 
suppose the mechanics should be invited to 
form themselves into a society for mutual im- 
provement. This was suggested to a few 
persons ; and with their approbation, I got a 
circular printed, and distributed it, inviting 
those who felt the want of information to come 
forward. A society was formed, with the title 



SCIENTIFIC IMPROVEMENT. 35 

of "The Mechanical Institution," which lasted 
about three years, and then dwindled away, 
leaving the few persons who began it in pos- 
session of what books and apparatus had been 
procured for its use. 

The first movements in this affair were 
made in 1816, but the society was not organ- 
ized till August, 1817. I performed the duty 
of secretary to this society the whole of the 
three years it was in being. The meetings 
were held weekly, first in Brooks' Market, 
then at the Three Compasses, in High Hol- 
born, and lastly at my house in Little Sutton 
Street, Clerkenwell. The exercises consisted 
of lectures and discussions on subjects relating 
to the arts and sciences, and sometimes social 
conversations on various subjects. 

Not having a library of our own, we sub- 
scribed two guineas per annum to Home's 
celebrated library, which allowed us about 
twenty volumes daily, but which was after- 
wards reduced to four volumes, for the use of 
those members who were engaged in the pre- 
paration of lectures. 

The Rules, &c. of the IMechanical Institution 
were printed in a pamphlet form. A notice 
of it is given in the London Mechanics' Maga- 
zine ; and it is thereby kept from oblivion, as 
it ought to be — for I am sure the efforts of 



36 MEMOIR OF A MECHANIC. 

several of the members deserved better success. 
But it was hardly possible to enlist persons of 
talent and leisure to assist us, although invita* 
tions were given to such, in a printed circular. 
I am of opinion that the decline and extinction 
of the society were owing principally to a want 
of taste and experience in these matters.^ 

It is astonishing, though true, that the great 
mass of mechanics do not appreciate knowl- 
edge as they ought. They do not go forward 
themselves, and can hardly be persuaded to 
partake of the repast it offers, after everything 
is prepared for them ; so that it becomes those 
who have drank at the fountain of knowledge, 
and know its efficacy, to go forward and do 
all they can for its general diffusion ; for there 
is nothing that we could do that would have 
so great a tendency to alleviate the miseries 
which are felt by the great bulk of mankind. 

* The notice of this society in the London Mechanics' 
Magazine, referred to on the preceding page, with some 
other things relating to it, will be found among the Miscel- 
laneous Papers. 



CHAPTER Y. 



RESIDENCE IN RUSSIA. 



Arrival at St. Petersburg. Description of the building in 
which the writer was employed. Difficulties. Their 
settlement. Recommendation. An accident. A threat- 
ened explosion. More scared than hurt. 

In June, 1820, I left London for St. Peters- 
burg, in Russia ; at which place I arrived after 
a passage of eighteen days. We left the ship 
at Cronstadt, and proceeded to St. Petersburg 
in a steamboat. It was about eight o'clock 
in the evening when we came in sight of the 
city. The sun, of course, was low, and his 
rays had a fine effect on the bright steeples 
and splendid domes of the public buildings, 
all shining with metallic lustre, so that, during 
a sail of five or six miles, we had as grand a 
sight as I ever witnessed. It was light enough 
to see to do ordinary work out of doors all 
night, for several weeks after I arrived. 

I was sent out with apparatus for the pro- 
duction of oil gas, for the purpose of illumina- 



3S MEMOIR OF A MECHANIC. 

tion. The building in which I was engaged 
in putting up the gas works was one in which 
the business of the Russian army was trans- 
acted. It was built in the form of a crescent^ 
having, a large arch in the centre, and was 
situated opposite the Imperial Palace. The 
area between these two buildings was used as a 
parade ground for the soldiers every morning. 

In this building were several departments^ 
with a general at the head of each, some of 
whom were employed over several hundred 
clerks. The library was very extensive. We 
put up a splendid chandelier in the centre of 
the room appropriated to it, which cost four 
hundred pounds sterling in England. It had 
three hundred and sixty jets of gas, issuing 
from a circle of brass seven feet in diameter, 
above which were four eagles, lit with gas. 
There was also a great quantity of richly cut 
glass about it. In this building I saw litho- 
graphic printing for the first time : copperplate 
and letter-press printing were also carried on 
here ; and a very extensive establishment for 
the manufacture of mathematical instruments ; 
— all belonging to the government : likewise a 
drawing school, consisting of about two hun- 
dred young officers. 

One ingredient in my constitution — the dis- 
position to resist imposition and coercion — was 



RESIDENCE IN RUSSIA. 39 

called into action more by the treatment of the 
agent under whom I was employed, during 
the two first years of my residence here, than 
in all my life besides. He attempted to prac- 
tise both imposition and coercion upon those in 
his employ — under specious pretensions, but 
so shallow as to be easily detected. He tried 
his various schemes upon the men with such 
impudence as to lose the confidence of them 
all ; and the concern had to pay much more 
for his meanness and tampering with the tem- 
pers of the men, than they would have done 
had his conduct been liberal. But he was a 
mere merchant, and not fit for such an under- 
taking — which was indeed a difiicult one. In 
fact, he was a man of no talent, except for a 
close bargain. 

Two men died the first winter, and I was 
sick several weeks with a nervous fever. The 
first foreman only stopped one year, and two 
other men were sent home soon afterwards. I 
managed, however, to get through with the 
government job, and then requested my dis- 
charge — offering to pay my own passage back, 
and to wait until the agent procured another 
man in my place : but no ; I was too steady a 
man for that, and he would not let me go. I 
knew he could give me some trouble, as I had 
agreed for three years, as all the others had 



40 MEMOIR OF A MECHANIC. 

done. They, however, quarrelled with him, 
and got away so. I would not descend to 
that, but wrote him a letter on the subject, 
which he thought proper not to answer ; and 
this is what gave me offence. No doubt he 
was consoling himself with the idea that he 
could oblige me to fulfil, to the very letter, a 
contract, the spirit of which he never regarded ; 
and it was suspected that he presumed too 
much upon his influence with the government, 
and the value of bribes to the petty officers : 
but be this as it may, he had reason to repent 
of his folly in the end. 

I kept at work until the time I had stated I 
wished to leave, when I was advertised in the 
Gazette, according to the custom of the place: 
and, at the proper time, I applied at the dis- 
trict office for a certificate. I found a letter 
there from the agent, containing statements 
which were for the most part incorrect, but 
sufficient to prevent my getting a passport. 
My mind was then wound up to the sticking 
point. I employed an attorney, and petitioned 
the governor, Count Miloradowitch, who insti- 
tuted an investigation ; but things went on so 
tardily, that I petitioned him a second time, 
and obtained my passport, after thirteen weeks' 
delay. By that time, however, the winter was 
setting in, and it was a bad time to leave. 



RESIDENCE IN RUSSIA. 4:1 

Just before this time, a new agent had been 
appointed. I engaged with him for the winter, 
recovered the wages for my lost time, amount- 
ing to nine hundred and thirty-six roubles, 
and brought away a good recommendation, 
signed in behalf of the proprietors, by the last 
agent. 

The following incidents, which befell me 
during my residence in Russia, may be ap- 
propriately related here. I have had many 
small accidents, but not many very serious 
ones. By being careful, I have avoided many ; 
and by acting adroitly when an accident has 
actually happened, the consequences have been 
less serious. 

I once escaped unhurt by a sudden and 
curious motion of the body, when in great 
danger of serious injury. This was at the 
gas works. A quantity of oil was let into a 
red hot retort, by mistake. The retort was 
open, and I stood directly in front of it, and 
hot more than three feet off. The oil was 
instantly set on fire, and a dense volume of 
flame rushed forth towards me, and passing 
upwards, would have struck me in the face, 
had 1 not leaned backwards so as nearly to 
fall, before I dared to move a foot. If I had 
moved my foot first, the consequences would 
no doubt have been dreadful. 
4 



42 MEMOIR OF A MECHANIC. 

On another occasion, at the same place, I 
had a severe trial, which kept me and many 
more in suspense for about an hour. 

The gasometer was placed in a room ad- 
joining the one where the retorts and furnaces 
were; and the partition wall became much 
heated, one day, by burning wood, as we 
were out of coal at the time. The tank which 
held the water for the gasometer was made of 
plank, and lined with lead. It was about ten 
feet deep, and placed within six inches of this 
party-wall. The heated part of the wall was 
about seven feet down the tank, the wood- 
work of which was set on fire by the hot wall. 
The fire was not discovered until dusk in the 
evening, when the men went into the gasome- 
ter room to put on the pressure, previous to 
lighting up. The room was then found to be 
filled with smoke ; an alarm was immediately 
given, and great confusion prevailed for some 
time. 

The general, who had charge of the build- 
ing, on hearing of the accident, ordered th$ 
whole concern to be pulled down by the sol- 
diers; and they went to work, without any 
judgment at all, — when our foreman, a spirited 
little fellow, and myself, exerted ourselves to 
the utmost, to stop the mad proceedings of the 
Russians, and to put out the fire. Our first 



RESIDENCE IN RUSSIA. 43 

move was to shut down the dampers, and to 
draw all the fire from under the retorts; and 
then to proceed to the gasometer room, where 
we found the men breaking the sky-lights, 
and endeavoring to remove the roof of the 
building' — and some of them were actually on 
the top of the gasometer. We ordered them 
off, and told the men to stop breaking the 
windows, &c. The smoke had now cleared 
away ; and the water remaining at its usual 
height in the tank, we concluded that the lead 
lining was not yet melted. 

At this time, a fat major came to the spot, 
quite out of breath, and called for me. He 
asked me, in Russ, if there was danger; when 
I assured him there was not, and that I only 
wanted half a dozen men, a crow-bar and a 
rope. Planks were nailed on the top of the 
tank, to cover up the opening; forming a plat- 
form just wide enough for a man to walk on, 
between the gasometer and the wall. Before 
we could know the extent of the fire, it was 
necessary to raise one of these planks, which 
was done by me with a crow-bar, to a distance 
sufiicient to get a rope round the end of it ; 
and then the soldiers could use their strength 
to some advantage. Water was thrown down, 
and we found the damage but trifling. The 
pressure of the gasometer was then regulated, 



44 MEMOIR OF A MECHANIC. 

and the house lit up as usual, after an hour 
of bustle. 

We then went hon^e to supper ; and 1 was 
amused with the accounts our gas fitter gave. 
It was his duty to light up the chandeliers, 
&;c. He was running about all the time, trying 
to keep the lights burning; but the agitations 
of the gasometer, caused by the confusion, 
made the supply of gas very irregular, and the 
lights would frequently go out. As he did not 
know the extent of the danger, he was stop- 
ping every now and then to hear the gasometer 
blow up. 

Our agent took good care to keep far enough 
off; and he kept the interpreter with him, so 
that we had to interpret for ourselves ; but 
they were both frightened. 

The flue of the furnace was afterwards 
turned another way, and all went on well. 



CHAPTER VI. 



THE ARTS IN RUSSIA. 



Russian workmen. Public buildings. Carpenters. Masons. 
Useful contrivances. Carriages and horses. Academy of 
Arts. The Emperor's Hermitage. The Summer Palace. 

My leisure time was spent, while residing at 
St. Petersburg, in studying the Russian lan- 
guage, drawing, and mechanical amusements, 
in winter time ; and in summer, in visiting 
places of note, and observing the manners and 
customs of the inhabitants. 1 remained three 
years in the city, and could say much about 
the place and the people ; but must confine 
myself chiefly to things concerning mechanics 
and the mechanic arts. 

Generally speaking, the Faissian workmen 
do very well. As there has been great en- 
couragement given to strangers, many have 
settled among them, who have improved their 
manners. Their manufactories of iron, and of 
goods from flax and hemp, have long been 
celebrated. They have also carried the manu- 



46 MEMOIR OF A MECHANIC. 

facture of paper, cotton, silk and glass to con- 
siderable perfection. 

Granite is much used in their public works, 
for foundations of buildings, for lining the 
canals and rivers, and for side-walks. Some 
of the columns made of granite are very large, 
and highly polished. I took the pains to mea- 
sure one of the columns intended for a new 
church, and found it fifty-six feet long, and 
six feet six inches in diameter at the base. 
They were brought from Finland: two of 
them were a load for a ship, one being placed 
on each side of the masts, that they might 
balance each other. They were rolled from 
the deck to the vicinity of the intended build- 
ing, on timbers nine inches square, placed but 
little distance apart, which were completely 
crushed to splinters. The rolling was per- 
formed by two ropes ; one end of each being 
made fast, some distance ahead, to stakes 
driven into the ground. They were passed 
under the column, up the back side, and over 
the top. The other end of each rope was 
wound upon a separate capstan. Each capstan 
had four long levers, with from ten to twenty 
men at each lever. These columns were 
placed in a temporary building for polishing. 

I visited the foundry w^here the bases and 
capitals were made. They were of brass, 



THE ARTS IN RUSSIA. 47 

highly pohshed and gilt ; and of the Corinthian 
order. The square plinth for the hottom was 
about nine feet on each side, and one foot 
thick. Several women and children were pol- 
ishing these with pumice-stone. The torus, a 
round head belonging to the base, was turning 
in a lathe. The man had a very strong tool 
for this purpose. A steam-engine, with a man 
to attend it, was employed entirely on the 
work. The capitals, with their leaves and 
volutes, had a splendid appearance. 

It is astonishing to see the variety of work a 
Russian carpenter will do with his axe only. 
It answers for the saw, hammer, rabbit plane, 
shave, and in some cases, for the chisel. At 
his meals, he cuts his black bread with it. 
The fore plane which they use has four han- 
dles ; and it takes two men to work with it. 
They sit on a pile of boards, planing that 
which is uppermost ; one man pushing, while 
the other is pulling the plane. The joiner 
uses a saw in a frame, somewhat like those 
used by the wood-sawyers in Boston. 

The masons build their walls very thick. 
Their stages are ascended by inoJi'ned ^anes, 
instead of ladders, so broad that one might 
drive a carriage up them with ease. The 
mortar is carried by two men on a kind of 
hand-barrow. They walk up these gentle 



48 



MEMOIR OF A MECHANIC. 



slopes very leisurely. The bricks are carried 
by one man. He takes a piece of board two 
feet long, Avith four projecting pins or arms, 
two of which rest on his shoulders, while the 
board hangs down his back; the other two 
pins being for the bricks to rest upon. In 
this way, he carries about sixteen bricks at a 
time. 

Lord Bacon observes, that when we travel 
into foreign countries, we should not adopt 
every new thing we see, but now and then 
prick in a flower. Following his advice, I 
will here describe three things which appear 
to be useful, and peculiar to this place. At 
least, I have not seen them anywhere else. 



Fig. 1. 



Fig. 2. 



Fig. 3. 




Fig. 1 represents a contrivance for shutting 
doors. The power is applied in the same way 
as in our modern iron printing presses. There 
is a pin at each end of the apparatus. One pin 
is fitted to and turns in a socket attached to the 



THE ARTS IN RUSSIA. , 49 

frame, and the other is fitted to a similar one 
in the door. In opening the door, the pins are 
brought nearer together, and the weight in the 
centre is raised. The door is shut by this 
weight straightening the bars, and spreading 
the pins farther apart. Some of these articles 
are made of iron, and are black ; others are of 
brass, and kept bright. They are extensively 
used. 

Fig. 2 is a cistern for water, with a valve in 
the bottom, which is much used for washing 
the face and hands. By raising the valve, the 
water is let down in small quantities, and as it 
is used, passes off by means of a sink placed 
underneath. The advantages of this method 
are, that persons do not wash in the same 
water w^ith others, nor use it more than once 
themselves ; which is not only more conducive 
to health, but makes less water necessary than 
washing in a common bowl. These cisterns 
are made of various forms and sizes. Some of 
them have a dozen or more pipes, each furr 
nished with a valve, so that many persons 
may wash at the same time. The large ones 
are made in a circular form, and placed in the 
middle of the room; but the small ones are 
hung against the wall. 

In Fig. 3 is represented a spring bow, or 
arch. This is used with the horse-collar, for 



50 MEMOIR OF A MECHANIC. 

the horse that is placed in the shafts. Other 
horses do not wear them. It was a long time 
before I could see any other use for this con- 
trivance, than to cause the horse to hold up his 
head, and to keep him from stumbling, by the 
bridle being hooked to the top of the arch. I 
was informed afterwards, by an intelligent 
man, that the spring being connected with the 
collar, prevented the shoulders of the animal 
from chafing, by continually easing the collar 
off, and suffering the air to pass between that 
and the shoulder of the horse. 

The drosky is the most common kind of 
carriage used here, (like the hackney coaches 
in London.) It is used with onlj^ one horse, 
and there is only room for two to ride, besides 
the driver. The drivers have tickets about 
their necks, numbered and dated. There are 
likewise a great number of droskies belonging 
to private persons. Some of them are very 
expensive : and they generally have two horses 
abreast. One of them, however, seems more 
for ornament than for use — being obliged to 
carry his head so far from his companion in 
the shafts, that he appears to be in misery, and 
is obliged to go nearly sideways. 

Small Arabian horses are those most gener- 
ally used ; and they are prohibited from being 
exported. Those in the meanest service are 



THE ARTS IN RUSSIA. 51 

in very good order, and full of spirit — spring- 
ing forward at the voice of the driver, who 
carries neither whip nor stick. 

A better kind of carriage, called a kallashka, 
is drawn by four horses, in imitation of English 
carriages. It is used by the gentry for long 
journeys, and is sometimes driven about town. 
Yery often they have four horses abreast be- 
hind, and two before ; and sometimes more 
than that. I have seen eight horses abreast 
attached to one of the Emperor's carriages, in 
imitation of the ancient Roman chariot. 

The Academy of Arts is open to the public 
once in three years. I had the pleasure of 
spending several hours in examining some of 
the specimens of painting, sculpture, &c., in 
the rooms and corridors ; but they were so 
numerous as to require months, instead of 
hours, to examine them properly. The corri- 
dors alone are said to extend more than a mile 
in length. Although this building is devoted 
chiefly to the fine arts, there are many speci- 
mens of mechanical skill. I noticed a model 
of the machine on which a large block of 
granite, weighing upwards of nine hundred 
tons, was removed several miles. Peter the 
Great is said to have stood on this reck, giving 
commands to his army, when he subdued the 
Fins. The Empress Catharine ordered it to 



52 MEMOIR OF A MECHANIC. 

be removed to the city, for a foundation, on 
which is placed a statue of that monarch on 
horseback. Many ineffectual attempts were 
made at its removal; but it was easily per- 
formed afterwards, by introducing cannon balls 
for rollers between bars of iron. 

The most splendid specimens of art that I 
remember to have seen, were in the Emperor's 
Hermitage, which is attached to the Imperial 
Palace, forming a place of retreat from the 
busy scenes of the court. In this building 
are many splendid rooms, the walls of which 
are hung with the most costly paintings, by 
the first artists of every country, that could be 
procured by mone^^ or otherwise. There are 
also several delicate specimens of sculpture, 
and models of architecture, with a variety of 
curious articles made of gold, silver and ivory: 
in fact, nearly every variety of material is here 
found fashioned into something either useful 
or amusing. 

The splendid jewels belonging to the Empe- 
ror are also kept here, and a great variety of 
gold and silver coins and medals. Some of 
these are very ancient. There is also a cabi- 
net of minerals, and a collection of rare books. 
One work appeared to consist of about eighty 
thick folio volumes, and to be placed there 
more for show than anything else. 



THE ARTS IN RUSSIA. 53 

These rooms form a square ; and in the in- 
terior is the winter garden, kept warm and 
comfortable. There, let it be ever so cold and 
dreary without, are to be found thriving plants 
and singing birds. Directly over this is the 
summer garden, on the top of the building. 
To complete the variety, there is a small thea- 
tre, with seats in a circular form, which I 
thought would be a good model for a lecture 
room. 

Among the specimens of the mechanic arts, 
were two large vessels, seven feet in diameter — 
one of richly cut glass, very massive, and the 
other of jasper, and about the same size and 
pattern. They were wrought in the country, 
and presented to the Emperor, as rare speci- 
mens of skill. 

There are other palaces in St. Petersburg, 
and several in the country, within thirty miles 
of the city. Some of them have very fine 
gardens, laid out with great taste — the walks 
of which are very pleasant, for nature and 
art have been taxed to the utmost, to make 
them so. Many marble statues are placed in 
the gardens, appearing to have been brought 
from the ruins of ancient cities. They are 
also frequently enlivened by bands of music. 

The Summer Palace at Tsascocela was the 
most popular, having been the favorite retreat 



54 MEMOIR OF A MECHANIC. 

of Alexander. In the gardens belonging to it 
are many cnriositieSj among which is a com- 
plete Chinese village, with cottages, bridges 
and temples : but the thing that pleased me 
best was a spring of water, with its embellish- 
ments. It is sitaated in a valley, well shaded 
with tall trees. The approach to it is rather 
gloomy ; but when you reach the spot, an open 
space appears. The spring is on one side, and 
on the opposite side are seats placed in a semi- 
circular form, where you may rest yourself. 
The water issues from a broken pitcher, which 
appears to have just fallen from a young 
lady's hand — which, with the whole embel- 
lishment, is a remarkably delicate piece of 
work in bronze. It consists of a pedestal, 
on which is a beautiful female reclining, 
supporting herself by the left arm. In her 
right hand is the handle of the pitcher. The 
pitcher itself lies on the pedestal, and over- 
hangs the front edge enough to prevent the 
stream of water from touching its base. Her 
eyes are fixed on the pitcher; and she appears 
to look so earnest and so composed, that if she 
could speak, I should expect her to say coolly — 
*'It is done, and cannot be helped." 



CHAPTER YII. 



FIRST ADVENTURES IN AMERICA. 

Employment during the passage to America. Excursions ia 
the country. First impressions. Anecdote. Residence 
at Methuen. Reading society. Amusements, &c. 

In June, 1823, I left Russia for the United 
States ; and after a vo^^age of sixty-three days, 
was safely landed on India wharf, in Boston, 
Mass. 

I amused myself during the passage, at such 
times as ray health would permit, in the study 
of mathematics. I had previously made my- 
self acquainted with the improved engineers' 
sliding rule, and decimal fractions ; and com- 
mitted to memory several useful factors, such 
as 3.1416, .7854, 27.648, &c. These and many 
others are often used to fmd the superficial and 
solid contents, and also the weight of different 
bodies. After getting used to the motion of the 
ship, I commenced making a table, by which 
I might easily calculate the pressure of a col- 
umn of water of any diameter, and of any 



56 MEMOIR OF A MECHANIC. 

height. Before it was finished, however, I 
perceived several repetitions ; for the very 
same figures occurred in diff'erent answers ; 
and on examining a Uttle farther, I found out 
the rule by which they were governed — namely, 
the shifting of the decimal point — which ena- 
bled me to simplify my work very much. I 
found that the answers to the first nine num- 
bers would serve for all the others, whether 
above or below unity. 

I was highly delighted with this discovery. 
As it happened when I had several weeks of 
leisure, and but little to engage my attention, I 
pursued the subject with ardor; and before I 
left the ship, I had prepared several tables for 
various purposes. The passage seemed too short 
for me. How tedious a voyage of several weeks 
must be, to persons who have no resources of 
amusement within themselves! whereas per- 
sons of studious habits may, with a few books, 
pens and paper, beguile those hours which to 
others would be almost insufferable. The 
same may be said of persons confined in a 
prison, or by sickness. 

Having got on shore, and safely disposed of 
my baggage, I purchased a few books and 
maps for my immediate use, and set out on an 
excursion into the country, in company with 
a friend. We crossed the Bay to Cohasset, 



FIRST ADVENTURES IN AMERICA. 57 

and after climbing the slippery rocks, we 
passed through some woodland to the village. 
My friend amused himself with his gun for 
three or four days, while I was looking about the 
place ; for everything seemed rather strange 
and interesting. In the mechanical Avay, I saw 
several simple contrivances, which answered 
very well the purposes for which they were 
intended. Among them were cheese and cider 
presses, and small windmills with pumps, lo 
raise the sea water for making salt. Nature 
also presented many interesting objects, some 
of which were new to me. The mighty ocean 
with its rocky shores, and the sea-breeze on a 
sultry day; the wild woods, with the chirping 
and croaking of their inhabitants; Indian corn; 
the black snake, the skunk and the squirrel ; 
several kinds of birds and water-fowl ; — these 
were among the objects that attracted my at- 
tention. 

We went also to Marshfield; but the scenery 
there was less interesting. The stone walls, 
however, which are everywhere to be met 
with, struck me as very curious. The old 
lady of the farm house, where we stopped, was 
very communicative. She politely showed me 
the orchard, which was extensive, with the 
trees well laden with choice fruit. She was 
5 



58 MEMOIR OF A MECHANIC. 

pleased with my account of other countries ; 
and, in return, I was instructed in the mys- 
teries of making fire cakes, dough-nuis, (fee. ; 
and also in peeling apples by machinery. The 
apple was stuck upon a fork, and caused to 
revolve by a crank, while a knife something 
like a spoke shave was held against the apple. 
The process is very simple, and expeditious. 
The apples were next quartered, and dried for 
future use. I Avas informed by this lady that 
she stood at her front door, and saw the en- 
gagement between the Shannon and Chesa- 
peake. 

After returning to Boston from my excur- 
sion, I began to think about employment, A 
small farm and a mechanic's shop united, were 
what 1 had thought of: and with this view, 1 
went about forty miles to look at a shop and 
some land that were for sale ; but after exam- 
ining two or three lots that were offered, I 
concluded it would be best to wait a few 
years, and get more acquainted with the man- 
ner of trading, which 1 found required some 
experience. 1 was led to this conclusion from 
a transaction that I saw. The man who had 
the lots of land to sell, called on a tanner and 
looked out a calf-skin ; and after a long talk, 
agreed to pay so much Indian corn for it. He 



FIRST ADVENTURES IN ABIERICA. 59 

told me it w:ould make two pair of boots ; and 
that the boot-maker was to have one half the 
skin to pay for working up the other half. 

I was soon engaged to work in a machine 
shop, connected with a cotton factory situated 
at Methuen, Essex County, Mass., something 
less than thirty miles from Boston. Here I 
remained three years, commencing in the mid- 
dle of September, 1823. 

Six months passed away, without my being 
able to do anything towards my favorite ob- 
ject — the promotion of popular improvement. 
In the spring of 1824, however, an opportunity 
offered itself for me to attempt the formation 
of a society for mutual improvement. A dis- 
course was delivered on the afternoon of fast 
day, by the clergyman of the village, on the 
importance of knowledge, and the facility with 
which it can be obtained, by a judicious ar- 
rangement of oiir time, and by associating 
together for mutual benefit. In fact, he ex- 
pressed my views so well, that I felt confident 
of a kind reception from him ; and I accord- 
ingly wailed on him the same afternoon. 

After stating my views, and presenting him 
some papers on the subject, he informed me 
that a small society for reading had existed for 
about five years in the village, but was at a 
very low ebb at that time. He was pleased 



60 MEMOIR OF A MECHANIC. 

with my proposals, and invited me to attend 
the next meeting of the society. 

I attended, and found a respectable number 
of both sexes assembled at the house of one of 
the members. They were engaged in reading 
by turns from Whelpley's Compend of General 
History ; and the president put questions to 
them, as they proceeded, which made it inter- 
esting. At the close of this exercise, he asked 
me how I liked it. "Very well," was my 
reply. I then inquired what other exercise 
they had. He told me that was all, except an 
annual address, which he delivered himself. 
I asked him if it would not be well to try the 
debating of questions, and familiar lectures on 
science and the arts. He said he thought well 
of it, but they felt very cautious how they 
ventured from shore, lest they should get into 
deep water. I told him I thought they need 
not be afraid ; for I had seen persons engaged 
in such exercises, whose opportunities for in- 
tellectual improvement were inferior to theirs. 
I was asked if I could give them a lecture. I 
said I would try ; and prepared myself accord- 
ingly. 

I had brought a small air-pump with me 
from Russia, which I made of a piece of gas- 
tubing, with a ground brass plate, on a ma- 
hogany stand. I bought a few glass articles, 



FIRST ADTENTURES IN AMERICA. 61 

which I ground to fit the pump-plate, with a 
Uttle sand and water, on the hearth-stone of 
my room. I procured a small wash tub, and 
fitted a shelf to it, for a pneumatic cistern. 
In this way I succeeded, with a very simple 
apparatus, in explaining the mechanical, and 
some of the chemical properties of air. 

This put new life into the society. Their 
Constitution was revised, to make provision 
for a library and apparatus. Debating was 
also introduced with success; and the ladies 
handed in compositions, which were read at 
the meetings. The reading exercise was pur- 
sued only occasionally. Several of the mem- 
bers were prevailed upon to give lectures on 
subjects connected with their professions, un- 
less some particular branch of knowledge had 
been studied by them. It required considera- 
ble effort on the part of the more active mem- 
bers, to bring those forward who were very 
diffident. More than one case occurred, how- 
ever, in which gratitude was felt by those who 
had thus been roused to action. 

I served as vice president of the society 
during the remainder of my stay in the town, 
and took an active part in its exercises. 

The society continued to meet at the mem- 
bers' houses, until it became too large to be 
thus accommodated. They then tried the 



62 MEMOIR OF A MECHANIC. 

school house, and the hall at the tavern ; but 
not being satisfied with either of these, they 
built a two story building for their own accom- 
modation, at an expense of twelve hundred 
dollars, of which I furnished my full share. 
The building was completed within two years 
from the time I was introduced to the society. 
The hall was let to another society ; and there 
were two mechanics' shops under it. 

Since this time, the society has been quite 
prosperous. The exercises were weekly, in 
the following order: — 1. Reading by all the 
members ; 2. Reading by one member selected 
for the purpose; 3. An original lecture; 4. 
Discussion. This monthly course was con- 
tinued for one year after the new hall was 
completed. 

In October, 1826, I left this place to reside 
in Boston, and have not visited it since; but I 
have frequently heard of the prosperity of the 
society. 

I amused myself at times, while residing in 
the country, with making additions to the 
decimal tables, which were commenced during 
my voyage to the United States. About one 
hundred and fifty of them were made, from 
which forty-eight were selected and published, 
with directions for their use, and examples, at 
Boston, in 1830, after ascertaining their value^ 



FIRST ADVENTURES IN AMERICA. 63 

by previously printing a few specimens, and 
distributing them among my friends. For this 
pnrpose, as there was no printer in Methnen, I 
procured some types, and made a press, and all 
other articles necessary for a miniature print- 
ing and binding establishment; and produced, 
with the labor of my own hands, over one 
hundred small pamphlets of fourteen pages, 
containing sixteen of these tables, with exam- 
pies, &c. This was in 1825. I also performed 
sundry small jobs in the printing line for my 
friends; which were of some service to them, 
and quite a joke to me. 

While residing in Methuen, I acted as super- 
intendent of a Sabbath school belonging to the 
Baptist society of that place; and yet J call 
myself a churchman ; though I have never 
made any particular professions of religion. I 
also, while in this town, became a Mason, 
and was installed into the office of Senior 
Warden of Grecian Lodge, by a deputation 
from the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts, on 
the 10th of May, 5826 ; and soon after, I had 
to officiate as Master, during the remainder of 
my stay in the place, owing to the Masters 
leaving the town. Afterwards, in Boston, I 
took the higher degrees, as far as the Royal 
Arch ; but my business and other engagements 
prevented me from paying much attention to 



64 MEMOIR OF A MECHANIC. 

the subject. Still, I know enough about the 
institution to declare it not only innocent, but 
of a moral and useful tendency, when its rules 
are followed. And I can say with truth, that 
I have never spent happier moments than 
while in the lodge, where all meet on the 
same level. 



CHAPTER VIII. 



RESIDENCE AND OCCUPATION IN BOSTON. 

How employed. Making of school and philosophical Appa- 
ratus. Causes of success. Loss of shop and materials by 
fire. Good fortune comes at last. 

The next ten years of my life, which were 
spent in Boston, may be divided as follows : — 
One year and three quarters as a journeyman, 
in the service of Mr. William Philpot, machin- 
ist ; the next three years as co-partner with 
Mr. John Codman, machinist; then three years 
and a quarter in business by myself, and for 
the most part engaged in making and selling 
apparatus for illustrating the various sciences, 
(though a beginning had been made in the 
making of instruments, particularly air-pumps, 
before I left Mr. Codman ;) and the remainder 
of the time in connection with Mr. J. M. 
Wightman, who now has the care of the busi- 
ness. 

It has been seen, that from a boy I have had 
some tools of my own, and have been engaged 



66 MEMOIR OF A MECHANIC. 

in my leisure time in making various articles 
for experiments ; and that I have also been 
very fond of engaging in any measures for 
popular improvement. 

After I had been in Boston three or four 
years, Mr. Josiah Holbrook, a gentleman much 
engaged in the establishment of Lyceums, 
came to me to see about apparatus, as he was 
trying to introduce such cheap and simple 
instruments into schools and other seminaries 
of learning, as would come within their means. 
He had already several articles for illustrating 
geometry, astronomy, &c. ; but air-pumps were 
not then simplified enough to form a pan of 
the Lyceum apparatus. At this interview, T 
introduced to his notice a small air-pump for 
exhausting and condensing, and several arti- 
cles of apparatus to be used with it, which 
I had made for the amusemicnt of myself 
and my friends. He frankly acknowledged it 
to be the very thing that was wanted in 
the smaller establishments for education. He 
wished me to make some for sale, and prom- 
ised to recommend them, which he did not 
fail to do. From this interview, I may date 
the commencement of my making philosophi- 
cal instruments, as a regular business. And 
upon the whole, I have been more successful 
than could be expected, when it is considered 



RESIDENCE IN BOSTON. 67) 

that it was a business so different from the 
one I had been used to. 

And how is this to be accounted for? From 
a variety of circumstances, among which may 
be named, a demand for cheap and useful in- 
struments, and the fact that 1 was connected 
with several societies for improvement, and 
the frequent demand on me for lectures, 
affording me many opportunities of showing 
how much could be done with my simple ap- 
paratus, which was also lent out to be used 
by others ; and in this way, most of the teach- 
ers and others having charge of the various 
institutions for education, became acquainted 
with me and my pursuits. Then, again, the 
place where I was located was very favorable. 
Boston is styled the " Literary Emporium." 
Education is more generally diffused through- 
out New England than the other parts of the 
Union, and teachers from this part are much 
in demand in the other sections of the countr^r. 

Such I conceive to be some of the reasons 
for my success ; and the fact of my mind not 
having been biased, while young, to the regular 
routine of instrument makers, turned out to be 
a favorable circumstance. I had the theory, 
or principles of several sciences, and an exten- 
sive acquaintance with machinery, with some- 
thing of an inventive mind : and had imbibed 



68 MEMOIR OF A MECHANIC. 

very strongly the idea that if a machine per- 
formed well, its construction could not be too 
simple. 

I managed finally, with such assistance as 
I could procure, to contrive and introduce a 
number of useful articles of apparatus, suitable 
for illustrations in some of the sciences ; but 
a greater innovation was made in regard to 
the air-pump than anything else. Three dif- 
ferent sizes were made, all of them upon new 
plans, forming a complete system of air-pumps, 
adapted to the several grades of institutions 
for the purpose of education. 

As I commenced business without capital, 
I had to struggle a long time in straitened 
circumstances, and was obliged to be very in- 
dustrious and prudent. And after getting the 
business into a good train, with a prospect of 
making it profitable, the whole concern was 
brought to a stand very suddenly, by the 
burning of the building which I occupied, 
particularly the upper part, where my shop, 
ware-room, &:.c., were situated. 

This occurred in the summer of 1835. The 
fire caught in the cellar, while the workmen 
belonging to the lower part were gone to din- 
ner ; and such was the combustible nature of 
the materials, that the flames rushed up the 



RESIDENCE IN BOSTON. 69 

Stairway leading to my shop, so suddenly that 
myself and one young man were obliged to 
make our escape through a scuttle in the roof, 
while another, who barely saved himself by 
the stairway and a second story window, 
was so badly burned that he scarcely avoided 
losing his life, after upwards of two years of 
suffering. He had gone down the upper flight 
of stairs in great haste, and having passed the 
door, which shut with a spring, he could not 
return ; but, Avith astonishing fortitude, leaped 
out at a window of the second story, although 
the flames were passing out with fearful vio- 
lence at the same time. 

The other lad had followed him until, on 
opening the door, the flames came full in his 
face — which, with one of his arms, was much 
scorched; but the door closing, he returned, 
and told me that Henry could not be saved. 
We then, after looking round for a moment, 
made our way out through the sky-light, just 
as we were, with our paper caps and aprons 
on, and our shirt sleeves turned up, leaving our 
hats, coats, &c.j to the mercy of the fiery ele- 
ment. 

By the time I reached the street, so many 
people were collected in front of the building, 
and there was so much confusion, that I could 
get no information of the other lad, for nearly 



70 MEMOIR OF A MECHANIC. 

two hours. I finally learned that he had es- 
caped, and was taken to a physician, who 
had dressed his wounds, and conveyed him 
to his mother's house, at the south end of the 
city. 

My principal workman, Mr. Wightman, was 
at this time confined to his bed with a typhus 
fever, which was increased by this calamity— 
particularly as the young sufferer was his 
brother, who, when taken home, reported that 
he was the only one of the three who had 
escaped ; and I actually had to show myself 
at ten o'clock the same night, to convince him 
that I was still in the land of the living. 

All my help, consisting of three persons, 
were now confined to their beds; the stock of 
apparatus and my little library destroyed, and 
the tools so much injured that it took me two 
months to get under way again. The young 
man least injured got well in three weeks ; 
and Mr. Wightman recovered in five or six 
weeks, when he accepted my offer to become 
a co-partner in the concern. By his industry 
and economy, he had saved a considerable 
sum ; and his skill as a workman, his general 
good character, and his remarkable fidelity to 
me, rendered this only an act of justice due to 
him, when so favorable an opportunity offered 
itself. Mr. Wightman had worked with me 



RESIDENCE IN BOSTON. 71 

without much interruption, ever since I com- 
menced making apparatus, and has assisted 
me in many of my inventions ; — in fact, he 
has been all along my right hand man. 

My insurance was promptly paid, which 
enabled me to satisfy my creditors, and to 
furnish my part towards starting again. 1 
bore this reverse Avith all the philosophy I was 
master of; and Dame Fortune now seemed 
determined to try me on another tack. In 
less than a year from the occurrence of the 
above described disaster, I was put in posses- 
sion of a handsome property, which enabled 
me to put the business upon a more respecta- 
ble footing than it had ever been before; and 
aiforded me an opportunity of revisiting my 
native country, for which I proceeded to make 
preparations. 

Thus much in regard to business. The 
greater part of my leisure time has been de- 
voted to the acquisition of useful knowledge, 
and in efforts to bring others into similar pur- 
suits. Of my endeavors towards the promotion 
of societies for improvement in useful knowl- 
edge, in this city, some account remains to be 
given, in another chapter. It may be added, 
also, that I occasionally contributed various 



72 MEMOIR OF A MECHANIC. 

articles, on subjects of a practical character, 
to the mechanics' magazines, especially the 
Young Mechanic, of which there will be found 
occasion for further mention hereafter. 



CHAPTER IX- 



INVENTIONS. 



Small Air-pump. Experiments performed with it. How 
invented. Large Air-pump. Medium sized Air-pump. 
Bottle-pfoving machine. 

The following is a more particular account 
o( the principal of my inventions and improve- 
ments in school and philosophical apparatus, 
&XJ., mentioned in the preceding chapter, espe- 
cially the air-pump. 

The small air-pump was first introduced, 
and formed part of a set of pneumatic appara- 
tus', capable of performing more than twenty 
experiments, illustrative of all the mechanical 
properties of the air, as the pump was both 
an exhauster and a condenser. Some of the 
experiments were rather striking, particularly 
that of raising a fifty-six pound weight, by the 
upward pressure of the atmosphere. There 
was also a water-pump with a glass barrel, and 
a syphon. The whole were packed in a neat 
case, which might be carried under the arm. 
6 



74 



MEMOIR OF A MECHANIC. 



A lithographic print, showing how the various 
articles were to be used, was pasted under the 
cover of each case; and an explanatory pamph- 
let was also sent with each set of apparatus. 





[Experiments with the small Air-pump.] 

The construction of this small air-pump was 
very simple, yet it was quite effective ; and 
although its action could easily be reversed, 
there were no spare parts, they being all used 
in each operation. It consisted of a single barrel 
of small bore, and therefore easily worked by 
the hand, applied to a handle on the end of the 
piston rod. There was a screw for attaching 
it to several parts of the apparatus, and also a 
ground plate on the end of the barrel; and 
this plate, which was cast on the pump, con- 



INVENTIONS. 75 

stituted its chief novelty. This contrivance 
was discovered in the following manner : 

As I was giving a lecture with a small sin- 
gle barreled pump, with a ground plate on a 
mahogany stand, and the barrel attached to 
the stand at the back of the plate, I attempted 
to perform the experiment of making a balloon 
rise in water ; but on covering the jar contain- 
ing the balloon with a receiver, I found the 
latter was cracked, and very leaky. After a 
short trial, the thought struck me that the 
experiment might be performed without the 
receiver, as the jar was ground on the top. 
So I unscrewed the plate from the stand, and 
placed it on the jar ; and the barrel being also 
removed from the stand, was attached to the 
plate itself— thus forming as complete a pump 
as before, but much more simple. And from 
this hint sprang all the small air-pumps which I 
have made, as well as those which others have 
taken the liberty of making after my plans. 

The sale of this article has been much more 
extensive than could have been anticipated. 
On my observing to a friend that 1 had a pros- 
pect of making something of it, he said that a 
dozen would go a great way towards supplying 
the demand ; but instead of dozens, there have 
been several hundreds of complete sets sent to 
various parts of the United States, and some 



76 MEMOIR OF A MECHANIC. 

to Other parts of the world. In fact, this had 
been the most important article in the business, 
whether as regards my own benefit, or the 
extensive place it occupies among the means 
of education. My larger pumps, although 
they are simpler in construction, cheaper, and 
easier to use than many others, only take the 
place of the more expensive ones before in use ; 
whereas this article has been introduced into 
many small institutions, where it would have 
been quite impossible to introduce others, on 
account of their great expense. 

The large air-pump was invented soon after 
the completion of the small one. In fact, the 
first large pump was suggested by inventing 
the small one, and was made very nearly in 
the same shape, but much larger. It consisted 
of a stout mahogany stand, with a square top, 
like a table, resting on the floor ; but several 
inches higher than a common table. The plate 
of the pump rested on the top of this stand, 
and the barrel projected through the top. The 
piston rod, which extended down below the 
barrel, was worked by a simple lever ; and the 
operation was very easy. 

This pump was modified several times dur- 
ing five or six years, until a medium sized 
pump was invented, to stand on a table, and 
consequently, of a more portable character. 



INVENTIONS. 



11 




[Large Air-pump.] 

This contrivance was a great desideratum, for 
some years before it was accomplished. But 
in 1834, the medium sized pump was com- 



78 



MEMOIR OF A MECHANIC. 



pletedj and a patent obtained for it; and im- 
mediately after, the large pump was improved 
by means suggested while finishing the port- 
able one. These pumps are worked by a 
simple lever ; and the barrel moves, while the 
piston is stationary. Both valves are attached 
to the piston. The barrel is completely closed 
at the bottom, and the exhaustion is performed 
by the downward action of the lever, pressing 
the pump down upon the table or floor on 
which it stands, while the upward motion is 
greatly assisted by the pressure of the atmos- 
phere. Thas the difficulty so long felt, of 
fastening large pumps down, and of keeping 
them steady while in action, is completely 
overcome. 




[Medium sized Air-pump.] 



INVENTIONS. 79 

Passing over a number of minor articles, 
which, though useful, it might be tedious to 
describe here, 1 will conclude my remarks on 
this part of the subject by giving an account 
of an invention of mine of quite a different 
character. — About seven or eight years ago, 1 
was applied to by the agent of the New Eng- 
land Glass Bottle Company, about a machine 
to try the strength of porter and other bottles. 
He had seen a notice in a scientific periodical, 
of a machine invented in France for this pur- 
pose, but without any description ; and he had 
no idea how it should be made. I told him 
that I had as much as I could do in attending 
to my own inventions ; but I would think the 
subject over, and if 1 did not make the machine, 
I was willing to give the person who might 
make it the results of my thoughts on the sub- 
ject. I matured a plan, and after considerable 
solicitation, made the machine myself, which 
had the effect of helping the company out of 
their difficulty ; for upon trial it was clearly 
proved that their bottles were stronger than 
the imported ones, being all put to the same 
test. 

This machine was made upon the same 
principles as the hydrostatic press ; and al- 
though the piston of the forcing pump was 
only half an inch in diameter, yet the operation 



80 MEMOIR OF A MECHANIC. 

was performed in a short time ; for the bottles 
were filled with water previously to attaching 
them to the machine, so that it required but a 
few strokes of the pump to put on the pressure ; 
and the power required was so small that a 
light force applied to the end of the lever was 
sufficient to give a pressure of several hundred 
pounds on the square inch, which pressure was 
indicated by the rise of mercury in a tube 
closed at the top, and previously filled with 
air. A graduated scale was attached to the 
tube, to show the degree of pressure at any 
period of the operation.— What made this ma- 
chine of so much consequence to the company 
was, that the consumers of bottles would not 
purchase them, unless they were Avarranted to 
be as strong as the imported ones; and this 
the company had previously no means of as- 
certaining. 

This machine was subsequently put in or- 
der and used by the Assistant Quarter Master, 
at Boston, to try the strength of articles made 
of India rubber cloth. 



CHAPTER X. 



SOCIETIES IN BOSTON. 



Boston Mechanics' Institution. Its history. Classes. Char- 
itable Mechanics' Association. Boston Lyceum. Me- 
chanics' Lyceum. The Essayist. The Young Mechanic. 
Franklin Lectures. 

On my arrival in Boston, my first object was 
to make inquiries respecting mechanics' socie- 
ties; but I was surprised to learn that no society 
existed to which a mechanic could resort, and 
hear lectures on subjects calculated to aid him 
in his vocation. There had been some talk of 
building a mechanics' hall, &c. ; but that pro- 
ject was abandoned. I conversed with several 
persons on the subject, who were willing to 
assist in forming a society for mutual improve- 
ment. I put a notice in a newspaper, stating 
where names would be received, and finally 
called a meeting, which was attended by nine 
persons; and a second, which was attended 
by only seven. At this meeting, it was deter- 
mined to make the thing more popular, by 
advertising it in the daily papers, and hiring 



82 MEMOIR OF A MECHANIC. 

a hall in a central situation. The next meet- 
ing was held at Concert Hall, and was very 
well attended. The result was the formation 
of the Boston Mechanics' Institution. This 
was in 1826. 

The society soon became popular, which in- 
duced others to follow the example thus set ; 
so that it became evident that in Boston, as 
well as in other places, it only required a little 
exertion on the part of those who felt an inter- 
est in the subject, to induce at least a portion 
of its citizens to improve these advantages. 

Finally, however, other societies of various 
kinds becoming numerous, the Institution be- 
came deprived of so large a share of its former 
patronage, that the receipts were found in- 
sufficient to defray the expenditures; and the 
lectures were discontinued, (with a hope, how- 
ever, of reviving them at some future time.) 

Being the first society in Boston, that intro- 
duced popular lectures on various branches of 
science, it would seem rather strange that it 
did not continue longer. The fact of the pa- 
tronage being divided among a number of 
societies is not sufficient to account for its 
decline — it having made such an auspicious 
beginning, with a large number of members, 
and in addition to the regular assessments, a 
voluntary subscription having been set on foot 



SOCIETIES IN BOSTON. 83 

soon after its organization, by which the liberal 
sum of about twelve hundred dollars was real- 
ized, and a collection of apparatus commenced. 
An act of incorporation was also obtained,- 
and it had the appearance of a permanent 
institution ; but the sequel shows that it was 
not conducted in a way to make it lasting. 

As I have taken part in the management of 
this society from its formation, and have been 
very anxious for its success, I have, as a mat- 
ter of course, formed my own ideas as to the 
causes of its decline. Not the least of these, I 
should say, was its„..unsQcial character. A 
course of lectures, merely, during the winter, 
was all that the managers ever attempted : no 
library, reading room nor classes. A class 
on mechanical science was indeed formed, by 
members of the Institution, with the expecta- 
tion that the managers would give it encour- 
agement, and own it as a branch of the Insti- 
tution ; but they merely appointed a committee 
to consider the subject, with power to furnish 
a room for the class. They decided, however, 
that it was inexpedient; and some of the board 
thought it wrong to take the funds of the so- 
ciety for the purpose. The class might have 
supported itself, if persons could have been 
admitted who were not members of the Insti- 
tution; but the rules of the class forbade it. 



84 MEMOIR OF A MECHANIC. 

In fact, the class adhered too closely to the 
rules of the parent for its own benefit; and 
was finally discontinued, for want of a little 
of that fostering care which the managers 
might have bestowed, with advantage to the 
parent institution, as well as to the class. 

I took a very active part in this class, and 
had reason to expect that other classes would 
be formed on various subjects, which, while 
they enabled the members to make the most 
of the information received at the public lec- 
tures, by a more particular application, would 
have formed with the parent a bond of union 
not easily broken, and rendered some of the 
smaller societies since formed, unnecessary. 

The plan of classes, in connection with a 
large institution, is better, in' some respects, 
than so many small, independent societies, 
which are generally of short duration, as the 
removal of one or two active members is often 
sufficient to discourage the others, and some- 
times to break up the society. The classes, 
on the other hand, can be filled up from time 
to time, as long as they take an interest in the 
subject; and when that fails, other classes 
may be formed, on subjects in which an inter- 
est is taken. By the concentration of talent 
and energy, with the various facilities afforded 
by a popular institution, the classes can be 



SOCIETIES IN BOSTON. 85 

conducted with more economy, and greater 
benefit, than can m general be secured by 
the smaller societies for mutual improvement. 
Still, I would not depreciate the latter, which 
will do much good, wherever they are carried 
on with the proper spirit ; and there are many 
places where no other kind will succeed. 

In my remarks on the management of the 
Institution, I disclaim the intention of imput- 
ing blame to any one. The gravest charge I 
am inclined to make, is that of error of judg- 
ment, in relation to the capacities of many 
persons among our youth and the humbler 
classes, for social and rational enjoyment, as 
well as for self-improvement, which are found 
to exist, and to be easily developed, under 
suitable influences; and which are proved to 
be much more general than the inexperienced 
in these matters could have imagined. 

So tenacious are mankind, in their adhe- 
rence to ancient prejudices, that among the 
better informed, a small portion of aristocratic 
feeling is sufficient to close their eyes, so that 
they can neither see nor appreciate those fa- 
vorable symptoms which are constantly devel- 
oped. All my experience is in favor of these 
opinions, which are confirmed still more by 
what I have lately seen of the London Me- 
chanics' Institution, and others of similar ten- 
dency. 



86 MEMOIR OF A MECHANIC. 

In justice to the managers of the Boston 
Mechanics' Institution, I must acknowledge 
they were placed in a peculiar situation, re- 
quiring more tact, and a greater variety of 
auxiliary means, than the leading members 
were disposed to employ. 

Among the many kindred societies that had 
adopted measures similar to those of this insti- 
tution, may be named, as its greatest rival, 
the Massachusetts Charitable Mechanic Asso- 
ciation. This was an old and powerful so- 
ciety, with plenty of funds; but the members 
were very careful how these funds were spent. 
For a long time, individual members had been 
trying to introduce something of an improving 
nature into the society; but when lectures 
were named, there were always a host against 
any such thing. The following has been re- 
lated to me, as a specimen of the kind of 
opposition the liberal members had to contend 
with : 

A proposition was made for a course of lec- 
tures on chemistry ; on which a sensible mem- 
ber exclaimed — " What good will chemistry 
do us? If we want medicine, the cheapest 
way is to get it at an apothecary's shop." 
And strange to say — such remarks, the off- 
spring of very contracted view^, had more 



SOCIETIES IN BOSTON. 87 

weight with the majority, than anything that 
could be urged in favor of the proposed mea- 
sure. 

The Association remained in this state when 
the Mechanics' Institution was formed ; but 
the popularity of the latter soon brought the 
members of the former to their senses, and 
they actually voted one hundred dollars to a 
gentleman for a course of twelve lectures, 
which were delivered simultaneously with the 
second course given by the Institution. From 
that time, the Association has been progress- 
ing steadily ; and there is some reason to hope 
that it will do much good in the end; for 
I have recently been informed that they are 
going on bravely in the work of improvement, 
^'- Mirabile dictu!^^ says my American corres- 
pondent, in 1837, " what can you guess has 
happened — a new comet discovered, caught and 
analyzed, or one of the men in the moon fallen 
off and alighted among us, to prove the moon 
story of last summer a hoax? No; not quite 
equal to that, but quite as improbable. The 
Mechanic Charitable Association have actually 
appropriated five thousand dollars Boston cur- 
rency to get up a Fair, like the New Yorkers 
and Philadelphians, next October. This is the 
consequence of a drubbing given them by their 



88 MEMOIR OF A MECHANIC. 

orator, Mr. Homer, at their last triennial cele- 
bration. Vive la grande Association ! ^^ ^ 

The Mechanics' Institution commenced on 
a liberal plan, paying twenty-five dollars for 
each of their lectures, which were so well at- 
tended that a repetition of them was practised 
for some time, when forty dollars were paid 
for each lecture delivered twice. By such a 
course, the managers were enabled to procure 
several good lectures from regular professors, 
and to afford encouragement to other gentle- 
men of talent to prepare themselves. In this 
way, lectures were supplied for several years; 
and it is to be regretted that they could be no 
longer kept up. But it is some consolation to 
those who were the means of setting this in- 
tellectual and moral machinery in motion, in 
the capital of New England, to remember that 
it was effiected by the Boston Mechanics' In- 
stitution, in the winter of 1S26-7. 

In the summer of 1829, 1 took part in the for- 
mation of the Boston Lyceum. I was elected 
one of its curators, gave several lectures during 
the two first seasons, and assisted in conduct- 
ing some of the classes. After that time, my 

* Mr. Claxton has probably learned, since writing the 
above, that the results of the efforts here alluded to have 
been as creditable to the society as could have been antici' 
pated. 



SOCIETIES IN BOSTON. 89 

attention to the society was relaxed, in some 
degree, by the formation of the Boston Me- 
chanics' Lyceum, and my appointment as its 
president, which office I held from February, 
1831, until the termination of the fifth course 
of exercises, in 1835. These exercises con- 
sisted of lectures, debates, declamations, and 
occasionally, extemporaneous speaking — that 
is, speaking on a subject as soon as it is pro- 
posed. They were conducted on the mutual 
instruction principle, by the members alone, 
who were enabled to pursue this plan to ad- 
vantage, after being well drilled to it in small 
classes. 

This society has been often referred to, as a 
specimen of what mechanics and others might 
do for themselves, by suitable efforts. It has 
furnished speakers for other societies, engaged 
in various pursuits ; and I might refer to one 
of the members, who used frequently to speak 
at temperance and other meetings, with good 
effect. One evening, I heard it remarked of 
him that he learned to speak at the Mechanics' 
Lyceum, which made me feel gratified, espe- 
cially as this member had expressed a doubt of 
the success of the Lyceum, at its formation. I 
had been speaking encouragingly to the mem- 
bers, when he remarked, " That is all very 
well, if we can make it go." I devoted some 
7 



90 MEMOIR OF A MECHANIC. 

of my best efforts to this society ; and we did 
make it go — better, in fact, tiian many had 
anticipated. 

The members had the privilege of intro- 
ducing ladies to the exercises, who were per- 
mitted to hand in pieces of composition, which 
were read at the meetings. Some of these 
were published in the "Essayist," a periodical 
conducted by Mr. G. W. Light, who was then 
secretary of the society. He was a printer 
and publisher, (in a small way at that lime;) 
and had a literary taste and a devotion to 
the cause of popular improvement, which en- 
grossed much of his time. The Essayist was 
devoted to literature; and the matter was com- 
posed chiefly of original pieces from young 
men. 

An idea was formed from this, that a simi- 
lar work devoted to the interests of young 
mechanics might be a useful thing. Thus 
the "Young Mechanic" originated, which was 
pubhshed for four years, viz., from 1832 to 
1835, inclusive. It was got up, and conducted 
for some time, by six members of the Mechan- 
ics' Lyceum, including Mr. Light and myself. 
And here I may be allowed to remark, that 
Mr. Light has been of considerable service to 
me, personally, by his valuable instructions in 



SOCIETIES IN BOSTON. 91 

the art of composition, in which 1 must con- 
fess myself to have been rather careless. 

In the above-mentioned work, articles were 
admitted from all who were disposed to con- 
tribute, however humble their pretensions — - 
the conductors undertaking to prepare their 
articles for the press. Several memoirs of 
persons of merit, belonging to the humbler 
classes, were also introduced, by way of creat- 
ing that degree of self-respect so necessary to 
command the respect of others. 

In 1832, 1 was appointed one of the com- 
mittee of the Frankhn Lectures, got up for 
the benefit of those who were prevented from 
attending other courses, on account of their 
expense, and the early hour at which they 
commenced. These lectures, beginning an 
hour later, and being afforded at one fourth 
of the usual price, (which was accomplished 
by having most of the lectures gratuitous, and 
by the ready sale of the tickets, which, in 
some seasons, amounted to a thousand or 
more,) gave to the class they were intended to 
benefit a most valuable opportunity. The duty 
which I performed was merely that of assist- 
ing the committee in their deliberations, and 
giving an occasional lecture. 

Boston is now well supplied with societies 
for the improvement of the mind. Some of 



92 MEMOIR OF A MECHANIC. 

the larger ones, however, should be modified. 
So many different subjects are treated of in 
their lectures, in one season, that no person 
can get more than a smattering of knowledge 
on any one subject. Each society should take 
its own stand. Let one take a stand decidedly 
of a mechanical nature, another of a mercan- 
tile, &c. ; and instead of one or two lectures 
on a subject, let there be a dozen given, if the 
nature of the subject requires it. We should 
thus get information that would be more sub- 
stantial and thorough, and the interests of the 
various societies would not clash. 



CHAPTER XI. 



HOME REVISITED. 



Anticipations. Visits to friends. London. Early impres- 
sions. Occupations. Formation of the Bungay Lyceum. 
" Hints to Mechanics." Engagement in manufacturing 
apparatus. 

As I had not seen any of my relations for 
twenty years, any circumstance that would 
enable me to do so, without detriment to 
anybody, and with credit to myself, would 
naturally be hailed by me as very fortunate. 
My wife had for many years been hoping for 
an opportunity to return, and had frequently 
expressed such a desire; but as for me, I had 
hardly dared to hope. Although death had 
made some ravages in both our families, yet 
there were many left that were near and 
dear to us, besides a new generation that had 
sprung up during our absence, who were as 
anxious to see us as their parents were. 

The long wished-for opportunity to gratify 
these desires was happily afforded by the sud- 
den accession to our worldly fortune, which 



94 MEMOIR OF A MECHANIC. 

has been already mentioned. — Leaving, there- 
fore, my partner, Mr. Wightman, to manage 
the business, we took our departure from Bos- 
ton, by the Providence Railroad, on the 3d of 
June, 1836, and arrived at New York the fol- 
lowing morning. On the 10th, we sailed for 
London in the packet ship Gladiator; and af- 
ter a rather rough passage, for the season, we 
arrived at Portsmouth, on the 3d of July, and 
went by mail to London, where we arrived 
next morning, in good health and spirits. 

After remaining a week with my wife's re- 
lations, we made an excursion into the country 
to see my own. They were all very agreeably 
surprised to see us ; for although we had kept 
up a correspondence, yet they did not know of 
our coming. One of my brothers, who has a 
large family, and who keeps a shop for the 
sale of various kinds of wearing apparel, sold 
us several articles, without discovering who 
Ave were. 

After spending several weeks in the country, 
we returned to London, and took up our abode 
there for the present. I then made a number 
of rambles about town, and noticed many 
improvements made during my long absence. 
London is certainly a wonderful place ; and 
yet, from the projects on foot for still greater 
improvements, it would seem to be still very 



HOME REVISITED. % 

far from perfection. Its limits, too, seem to be 
unbounded; for additions are constantly mak- 
ing, in every direction. 

I was rather surprised to find so many per- 
sons with whom I had been acquainted, both 
in town and in the countiy — some of them 
occupying the same sitnations they occupied 
from twenty to thirty years ago; and even 
longer than that, in two or three cases. 

There is another thing which seemed strange 
to me: many things in the vicinity of my na- 
tive place seemed very diminutive, especially 
the distances. What once appeared to me a 
noble river, was now a mere rivulet ; and the 
bridges were reduced in the same proportion. 
I was also continually making blunders in 
regard to the distances of places in the town; 
and although I knew that all the compact part 
of it might be perambulated in half an hour, 
yet I could not easily divest myself of early 
impressions. 

Such streets as Oxford Street in London, 
Broadway in New York, or Washington Street 
in Boston, are rather astounding to a country- 
man, at first sight ; but they soon become fa- 
miliar to him; and those in the smaller towns, 
on the other hand, seem to dwindle in propor- 
tion, as his sight is accustomed to larger ob- 
jects. So the noise and activity of large cities 



96 MEMOIR OF A MECHANIC. 

seems oppressive to most persons, for a while ; 
but this is generally soon overcome, and it acts 
as a sort of stimulus to them, so that they can 
seldom endure the quiet of a country life after- 
wards, except for short periods. This shows 
that habit or custom governs our taste, and is 
apt to bias our judgment, if we are not very 
careful. 

Soon after taking up my residence in Lon- 
don, I procured some tools with which to 
amuse myself; and by making some pieces of 
apparatus, and purchasing others, it was not 
long before I had the means of lecturing on 
several subjects at my command. Since then, 
I have, therefore, been endeavoring to make 
myself useful by giving lectures at the various 
institutions in and about London, and some in 
the country. 1 have also taken an active part 
in the management of several societies ; and 
in this way, I have become acquainted with 
many of the friends of popular improvement 
in this country. 

When on my first visit at Bungay, the 
summer after my arrival in England, I found 
there was no society for popular improve- 
ment in the place ; and but little encourage- 
ment was given me by those with whom I 
conversed, to attempt the formation of any- 
thing of the kind, as a general impression pre- 



HOME REVISITED. 9T 

vailed that they were deficient in materials 
suitable for such an undertaking. They were 
also distracted by a dispute in relation to the 
payment of church rates, which had been car- 
ried to a considerable height. 

I depended, however, upon my own judg- 
ment in these matters ; and after making a 
few observations, came to the resolution to 
attempt the formation of a society for mutual 
improvement, which was, in fact, one of the 
tasks I had set myself, before leaving America. 

After returning to London, I collected a 
variety of apparatus, and some useful books, 
which I took with me on a second visit to 
Bungay, the next November (1836;) and after 
procuring a room that would hold about thirty 
persons, I offered my services in the formation 
of a society ; but found it slow work to speak 
to persons individually. 

Very little headway was made in this affair, 
till I hit upon the plan of giving a gratuitous 
public lecture in a large room, which enabled 
me to make an impression on the audience in 
favor of a society for improvement, and to 
give notice of a second lecture, to be given a 
fortnight from that time. 1 also invited those 
who were willing to assist in this object to 
come to my room, where we held meetings for 
exercises, &c. twice a week ; and in this way, 



98 MEMOIR OF A MECHANIC. 

we succeeded better than could have been ex- 
pected. A society was formed, entitled the 
Bungay Lyceum. Rules, &c. were adopted, 
and officers appointed to manage its affairs. 

A statement of the progress we had made 
was given to about four hundred persons at 
my second public lecture, and the thing now 
became pretty generally known. I continued 
my exertions for about ten weeks; and before 
I left, a larger room was provided, the collec- 
tion of a library, &c. commenced, and every- 
thing in relation to the society was going on 
well. I gave them a parting address, on the 
importance of knowledge, with the means of 
its acquisition ; and received from them, at its 
conclusion, a written testimonial, prepared by 
a committee, in approbation of my services. 

On returning to London, 1 stopped at Bury 
St. Edmunds, and gave two lectures to the 
Mechanics' Institution of that place; and thus 
ended my winter excursion. 

Besides these occupations, I have also en- 
gaged myself in procuring information relative 
to the history and progress of Mechanics' In- 
stitutions. I found that the origin of these 
institutions had not been properly treated by 
previous writers ; and after well considering 
the subject, I determined to attempt the prepa- 
ration of a more correct account of their his- 



HOME REVISITED. 99 

tory. This, accompanied with a strong appeal 
to mechanics on the important subject of edu- 
cation, has been pubUshed in a small vohime, 
with the title of " Hints to Mechanics," which 
has met with a very favorable reception. 

After the manuscript of the above mentioned 
work was prepared, I hesitated some time as 
to a publisher. I finally determined to offer it 
to Messrs. Taylor and Watton, booksellers to 
the I^ondon University, as they were chiefly 
engaged in publications relating to education. 
A few days after leaving the manuscript, I 
received a note requesting an interview in re- 
lation to the manuscript and other matters. 
These " other matters," I found, were to solicit 
my co-operation with the Central Society of 
Education in relation to school apparatus ; and 
I here actually saw a set of "mechanical 
powers," which had been imported from a 
New York manufacturer. They were highly 
gratified to find one who had been so much 
engaged in these matters, and who had con- 
tributed his share towards giving celebrity to 
Yankee apparatus. Their pleasure was in- 
creased on finding me at leisure, and willing 
to assist them in putting their plans into a 
practical train. They had as yet accomplished 
comparatively nothing in this branch of their 
operations, though they had been for some 



100 MEMOIR OF A MECHANIC. 

time making efforts to do so — one great obsta- 
cle in their way being an inability to find any 
workmen of a grade between the common ar- 
tisan and the regular old-fashioned instrument 
maker, to assist them in the construction of 
suitable articles. 

At first, they wanted me to superintend the 
manufacture of these articles; but finding I 
had to contrive many things, and modify oth- 
ers, and taking into consideration the difiiculty 
of finding suitable persons to execute the work, 
I determined to attempt it myself; and I am 
now having a shop built, in which to carry 
out my plans. I have had an excellent work- 
man emplo^j-ed on the apparatus for three 
months, who has produced some things which 
give good satisfaction. 

As what has now been related seems to be 
all that it is necessary to say concerning my 
fortunes since returning to my native land, I 
must therefore here bring my story to a close. 



MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS. 



INTRODUCTION. 

It is well known to many, that Mr. Claxton, 
while residing in this country, besides being an 
industrious as well as ingenious Mechanic, was 
equally industrious in promoting the cause of 
improvement and education, especially among 
the class- with whom his business brought him 
most closely in contact. Sometimes we find 
him volunteering his services in lecturing on 
useful topics ; at others, employing his pen to 
arouse in other minds the same love of truth 
which was active in his own ; counting no 
efibrt lost which led to the discovery or prac- 
tical application of some useful truth. 

We believe the following remarks made by 
Amasa Walker, Esq."^ in noticing a lecture de- 
livered by Mr. Claxton, before the Boston Ly- 

•Mr. Walker was agent of the Factory at Methuen, 
while Mr. Claxton was there, and was accustomed to take 
part in the exercises of the Literary Society at that place. 



102 MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS. 

ceiim, are no more than a fair expression of the 
manner in which he is regarded by some of 
our most respectable citizens, who are best 
acquainted with his labors in this city : 

" We cannot refrain from paying a tribute of re- 
spect to Mr. Claxton. He is a man we admire ; 
a self-made man, a mechanic — an industrious, perse- 
verinfij. indefaticrable student, and at the same time 
a laborious and efficient workman at his trade, 
which is that of a machinist. We have known 
him for a number of years. His early education 
was extremely defective and limited, but he did 
not therefore conclude, as most do, that he must 
live and die in comparative ignorance and obscurity ; 
on the contrary, he resolved by study and effort, to 
retrieve the misfortune of his education, and ac- 
quire a competent knowledge of the sciences. In 
conformity to this noble resolution, he devoted his 
evenintrs and leisure hours to readinf]^ and reflec- 
tion, and by dint of perseverance, has risen to the 
respectable standing he now occupies, and is un- 
doubtedly entided to the honor of being one of the 
most scientific and intelligent mechanics in the city 
of Boston, and has the friendship and acquaintance 
of many of our most distinguished citizens. 

We do not say this of Mr. Claxton in order to 
praise him. He needs not our humble commenda- 
tion. He is a modest and unassuming man, and 
has no higher object than his own and others' intel- 
lectual improvement; but we say this to encourage 
and stimulate those who are sighing and repining 
on account of their depressed condition and their 
want of education." 



mechanics' institutions. 103 

Believing that we can give no better addi- 
tional illustration of this disposition, which 
shows itself in every part of the foregoing 
Memoir, we have introduced, under the above 
title, the following miscellaneous selection of 
articles, written by or relating to Mr. Claxton, 
among which are some things referred to in the 
course of the Memoir, which could not well be 
inserted there without interrupting the order 
of the narrative. Among other matters, some 
articles of an interesting and useful nature, 
contributed by Mr. C. to the mechanics' maga- 
zines, have been thought worthy of being re- 
published in this place. 



We begin this selection with a sketch of 
the origin and early history of Mechanics' In- 
stitutions, to the investigation and preparation 
of which Mr. Claxton has been devoting much 
time, since his return to his native country. 
Interwoven with this account is a brief though 
interesting sketch of the life of Dr. George 
Birkbeck, for whom he claims the honor 
of originating these institutions. It may be 
proper to add, for the sake of explanation, that 
this honor has by some been adjudged to Pro- 
fessor Anderson, the founder of the institution 
in Glasgow which bears his name. Attempts 



104 MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS. 

have evidently been made to disfigure or con- 
ceal the real truth on this subject ; but we feel 
confident that our friend Mr. C. has given a 
thorough and correct view of the case. 

The particulars of the following account 
were gathered by him from the Mechanics' 
Oracle and the Mechanics' Register, together 
with information obtained fro.u Dr. Birkbeck 
himself. 



ORIGIN OF MECHANICS' INSTITUTIONS. 

In tracing the history of Mechanics' Institutions 
back to their origin, we find that they have de- 
scended in an unbroken line from the Mechanics' 
Class at the Andersonian Institution in Glasgow, 
which was formed in the year 1800, by George 
Birkbeck, M. D., then Professor of Natural Phi- 
losophy in that institution, and the second who 
had filled that station. His predecessor was Dr. 
Thomas Garnett, who had been appointed on the 
2 1st of September, 1796. Professor John An- 
derson died in January of the same year ; and his 
executors proceeded soon afterwards to carry his 
benevolent intentions into operation, by commen- 
cing the Andersonian Institution. This gentleman 
was the eldest son of the Rev. James Anderson, 
minister of the parish of Roseneath, in Dumbar- 
tonshire, and was born there in 1726, He was 
Professor of Natural Philosophy at the University 
of Glasgow, for a number of years, and in his will 
he bequeathed his extensive library, apparatus, 



mechanics' institutions. 105 

&;c. for " the good of mankind and the improve- 
ment of science." 

The history of the origin of mechanics' institu- 
tions being blended, as it is, vvitli that of their 
originator, it seems appropriate to commence with 
a brief account of the hfe of this eminent indi- 
vidual, which will, almost of course, include or 
suggest all which it is at present of importance to 
say upon the subject. 

Dr. George Birkbeck was the youngest son of 
William Birkbeck, Esq., an eminent merchant and 
banker of Settle, in Yorkshire, -at which place he 
was born, in the year 1776. At a very early age 
he manifested strong indications of a disposition for 
mechanical pursuits, delighting to frequent those 
workshops in which such articles were made as 
corresponded with his as yet undeveloped genius, 
and embracing every opportunity to seize and use 
the tools of carpenters and other workmen. He 
was in his childhood solicitous to be employed in 
a cotton mill, that he might be enabled to examine 
the movements of the machinery. 

After spending six years at school in Newton, 
on the borders of Lancashire, he was placed under 
the care of Mr. Dawson, a celebrated mathemati- 
cian of Sedbergh, in which place and its neigh- 
borhood he spent one of the happiest and most 
instructive portions of his life. He soon afterward 
became acquainted with the late Dr. Garnett, with 
whom he spent some time, and was induced to 
turn his attention to medicine, and finally to adopt 
it as a profession. His medical studies were pur- 
8 



106 MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS. 

sued for five winters, all in Edinburgh, except the 
second, which was spent in London, to obtain 
more accurate informalion on anatomy. At the 
close of these studies, he underwent the customary 
examination for taking a degree in medicine ; and 
having exhibited proofs of possessing the neces- 
sary skill, was admitted to that distinguished honor. 

Shortly after his graduation. Dr. Birkbeck re- 
ceived a letter from Dr. Garnett, announcing his 
own appointment to the professorship of natural 
philosophy in the Royal Institution of London, 
and his nomination of Dr. B. as his successor in 
the chair at Glasgow, which he was about to 
relinquish. Not feeling entitled, at so early an 
age, to expect great encouragement in medical 
practice, and wishing to spend a few more years 
in the pursuit of additional knowledge. Dr. B», 
thinking this a favorable opportunity to promote 
his views, consented to become a candidate. The 
high testimonials, voluntarily sent, when this be- 
came known, from many distinguished characters 
in Edinburgh, secured the votes of a large majority 
of the trustees ; and after the lapse of a few weeks, 
in November, 1799, he commenced a course of 
lectures on natural and experimental philosophy, 
and the more interesting parts of chemistry. 

To supply these lectures with the necessary 
apparatus, strenuous exertions were made ; but 
from the want of an efficient philosophical instru- 
ment maker, the greater part was prepared under 
the superintendence of the lecturer, in the best 
conducted workshops that he could discover. 

Being thus introduced to a direct intercourse 
with the artisans of Glasgow, many of whom 



mechanics' institutions. 107 

exhibited a degree of eager curiosity that had no 
means of obtaining gratification, and a vigor of 
intellect for the cultivation of which no provision 
had been made, Dr. B. very soon formed a plan 
for delivering a series of elementary philosophical 
lectures, adapted, as far as was possible, to the 
untutored minds for which they were designed, 
and to be offered to them free of all expense. 
The time which he selected for this purpose was 
Saturday evening, prudently conceiving that it 
would at least be an admirable substitute for the 
ordinary mode in which that portion of their time 
was generally employed, and concluding that if 
the attempt should not otherwise prove ultimately 
beneficial, the experiment w^ould at least be safe 
and rational. 

Having matured this plan, Dr. Birkbeck com- 
municated his project to the trustees, in whom the 
management of the institution had been vested by 
the will of Professor Anderson, its founder, at their 
meeting in March, 1800. This was a source, 
however, from which no encouragement was to be 
derived, and no assistance obtained. So far as 
the motive was concerned, the scheme procured 
commendation, but in other respects, it excited 
smiles, as the delusive vision of youthful enthusi- 
asm ; and it was even derided when considered in 
reference to the individuals for whose benefit it 
had been introduced. Of these trustees, many 
were intimately acquainted with the wants, the 
habits and the capabilities of the artisans, yet not 
one was disposed to express even a favorable opin- 
ion of the proposition. 



108 MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS. 

The session being concluded, Dr. B. returned 
to Yorksliire ; and, in a short prospectus sent for 
publication from that place, of the sev^eral courses 
to be delivered in the next, introduced a notice of 
the objects and expectations of the new scheme, 
which commences thus : — "In the prosecution of 
the design, I shall deliver a series of lectures upon 
the Mechanical Affections of Solid and Fluid 
Bodies, abounding with experiments, and con- 
ducted with the greatest simplicity of expression 
and familiarity of illustration, solely for persons 
engaged in the practical exercise of the mechanic 
arts." The notice closes with the following ob- 
servations : — *' Whatever the arrogance of learning 
may have advanced, in condemnation of superficial 
knowledge, and how^ever firmly persuaded I may 
be that the people cannot be profound, I have no 
hesitation in predicting that vast benefit will accrue 
to the community by every successful endeavor to 
diffuse the substance of great works, which cannot 
be perused by the people at large ; thereby mak- 
ing them reach the shop and the hamlet, and con- 
verting them from unproductive splendor to useful 
though unobserved utility." 

The proper business of the institution having 
fully commenced, a printed invitation was sent to 
the various manufactories in Glasgow, for lists of 
the most sober and intelligent workmen which 
each contained, with an ofl^er of tickets, admitting 
them to the mechanics' class. One individual, by 
whom these notices were principally distributed, 
then unknown to Dr. B., now holds a respectable 
scientific situation, and still speaks with great satis- 



109 

faction of having made this early effort in behalf of 
popular institutions.* 

In consequence of the notices that had been 
distributed, a few lists were sent in, and tickets 
having been delivered to the individuals mentioned, 
the course opened with seventy-jive pupils. The 
impression made upon their minds may in some 
measure be estimated, from the next lecture being 
attended by two hundred. At the third, upwards 
of three hundred were present; and at the fourth, 
the number amounted to five hundred. These 
the theatre could with difficulty contain : and many 
others had been refused tickets, exclusively on this 
account. Nothing could exceed the attention and 
interest with which these lectures were received ; 
and no audience ever assembled, on any occasion, 
could exceed in propriety of behaviour this body of 
artisans and mechanics. 

During the progress of these lectures, various 
letters w^ere received from the hearers. One con- 
tained a new plan for an air-pump, another for a 
steam-engine, and one even for determining the 
sun's distance by a new method, from an individual 
who, prior to his hearing the few lectures on as- 
tronomy which made a part of this, as well as of 
the succeeding courses, had never thought upon 
this subject. Their strong attachment to these 
lectures was further evinced, by the very hand- 
some present of a silver cup, with an appropriate 
inscription and devices, delivered to ilie lecturer 
00 the termination of the course, by Mr. Rober- 

• The person here alluded to is Dr. Cleland, the cele- 
brated statistical writer, who has mentioned the fact in one 
of his works. 



110 MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS. 

son,* an eminent mechanic, on the part of the sub- 
scribers. These lectures were continued by Dr. 
B. for three sessions more, accompanied throuojh- 
out with similar manifestations of the approbation 
of his hearers, from their commencement to their 
termination. One of these tokens of respect was 
presented by Mr. Robert Thom, who has distin- 
guished himself by his inventions in the Water 
Works at the Rothesay Mills, near Glasgow. 
These testimonials of respect and interest em- 
braced his extensive mathematical and chemical 
course, as well as that which was popular or 
experimental. In this situation Dr. B. continued 
until the spring of 1804, when he finally relin- 
quished the professorship in the Andersonian In- 
stitution, and was succeeded by Dr. Ure, the 
present very able and eloquent lecturer. 

Subsequent to the above period, Dr. Birkbeck 
delivered courses of scientific lectures at Birming- 
ham, Liverpool and Hull, upon all which occasions 
his celebrity as an ornament to the world of science 
was increased, and his connexions were extended 
by the intimacy of many other eminent persons. 

In May, 1805, the doctor was married to Miss 
Catherine Lloyd, an intelligent and accomplished 
young lady, the youngest daughter of Sampson 
Lloyd, Esq., of Farm, near Birmingham. He 
afterwards passed a few weeks in travelling, and 
according to his original intention, he then came 
to London, where he established himself as a phy- 
sician ; and from his extensive connexions, and the . 



* This name, in some accounts, is given Roberton, and 
Robertson. 



Ill 

unlimited confidence reposed in his medical skill, 
bis practice rapidly increased, and his prospects of 
an honorable independence, as the merited reward 
of his labors, were in the highest degree flattering. 

The worthy doctor's domestic felicity, however, 
was soon destroyed, by a calamity as unexpected 
as it was severe, and which it required the exercise 
of all his fortitude to support. In the month of 
March, 1807, his amiable wife died within ten 
days after presenting him with a son ; and by this 
afflicting bereavement, he was plunged into the 
deepest distress ; but by a persevering attention to 
the important duties of his profession, his mind 
gradually resumed its serenity, and for several 
years afterwards, he continued to advance rapidly 
towards that degree of eminence as a physician 
which, at the present time, he so deservedly en- 
joys. 

Soon after he arrived in London, Dr. Biikbeck 
was elected one of the presidents of the Physical 
Society of Guy's Hospital, to which office he has 
ever since been annually re-elected. He was also, 
in the following year, appointed physician to the 
General Dispensary in Aldersgate Street, and still 
continues to discharge the important duties of that 
situation. 

Dr. Birkbeck entered a second time into the 
married state in July, 1817, when lie v^^as united 
to Miss Anna Margaret Gardner, the youngest 
daughter of Henry Gardner, Esq., of Liverpool, 
a lady whose many amiable qualities still shed their 
attractive influence on his hours of retirement. 

In the midst of his successful professional career, 
Dr. Birkbeck still retained his attachment to those 



112 MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS. 

scientific pursuits in which he had formerly at- 
tained so much eminence ; and the premises of 
the London Institution in Moorfields, of which he 
was one of the original projectors, being now com- 
pleted, he offered to deliver a gratuitous course 
of lectures on natural and experimental philoso- 
phy ; and this generous offer being gratefully ac- 
cepted by the managers, he delivered, during the 
spring of 1820, seventeen lectures to crowded 
and delighted audiences. He also delivered other 
courses of lectures at the same place, in the vears 
1823 and 1824. 

Many years had now elapsed since the early 
object of his ambition, the formation of a "Me- 
chanics' Class " at Glasgow, had been effected ; 
and having had, during this long interval, but little 
communication with that city, he had not received 
much information of the progress of the class. 
In the supplement to the sixth edition of the En- 
cyclopaedia Britannica, article "Cotton Manufac- 
ture," Mr. Dugald Bannatyne had spoken of Dr. 
Birkbeck's plan in the highest terms of eulogy ; 
and had expressed an anxious wish that it should 
be acted upon in all the principal manufacturing 
towns ; and a letter on the subject of the proceed- 
ings of the Mechanics' Class at Glasgow appeared 
in tlie Morning Chronicle, in 1822, in which tlie 
writer alluded to the meritorious exertions of Dr. 
Birkbeck, as its original founder, in a manner 
which could not fail to convince him, that the 
mechanics of Glasgow had not forootten the en- 
lightened individual to whom they were indebted 
for the important advantages which had resulted 
from his efforts. 



113 

In the spring of 1823, Dr. B. received a letter 
from Dr. Ure, his successor in the professorship at 
the iVndersonian Institution, communicating a se- 
ries of resolutions entered into by the mechanics 
of Glasgow, the perusal of wliich must have ex- 
cited in his mind that pure feeling of gratification 
with which philanthropy contemplates the sccom- 
plishment of its benevolent purposes. These res- 
olutions contained a powerful expression of grati- 
tude to Dr. Birkbeck, the " liberal-minded pro- 
jector and founder" of the Mechanics' Class, and 
a wish that his portrait should be placed in their 
library, for which purpose a voluntary subscription 
was opened. 

Upon receiving Dr. Birkbeck's grateful acqui- 
escence in their proposition, the mechanics for- 
warded him a letter, through the medium of their 
secretary, Mr. Alexander Marshall, from which 
the following extract is given, as a specimen of 
the style in which it was written, and to show the 
just sense entertained by the mechanics of the 
extent of their obligations to their benefactor: 

"Perhaps, when your philanthropic mind first 
suggested the idea of diffusing useful knowledge 
among mechanics, it did not occur to you that 
your benevolent scheme would be crowned with 
such eminent success as subsequent events have 
proved. But the oak springs from the acorn ; — 
the triumphs of truth over prejudice, though slow, 
are nevertheless certain, and, if properly directed, 
permanently beneficial to mankind. You formed 
your scheme of improvement from an intimate 
acquaintance with human nature ; and it must be 
gratifying to you to learn that your philosophic 



114 MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS. 

foresight has not been disappointed. You judged 
that the mental lethargy of the operatives towards 
science arose from no infirmity of their mental 
powers ; and you judged right. You traced it 
either to a total neglect, or an improper direction 
of their faculties to objects unworthy of their no- 
tice. You undertook tlie generous task of giving 
the first impulse, and of directing their attention to 
studies worthy of their pursuit ; and the experience 
of twenty years has proved, beyond a doubt, the 
beneficial effects resulting from your system of edu- 
cation." 

Soon afterwards, from some cause or other, the 
mechanics separated themselves from the Ander- 
sonian Institution ; and having formed an indepen- 
dent Mechanics' Institution, which is still in a 
prosperous state, the members, with the same sen- 
timents of grateful recollection which had dictated 
their previous resolution, nominated Dr. Birkbeck 
as their patron. 

Early in 1823, the doctor was revolving in his 
mind the practicability of carrying a similar plan 
into effect in the metropolis, for which purpose, 
as a preparatory step, he was preparing for publi- 
cation an Essay on the Scientific Education of 
the Working Classes. From the variety of his 
occupations, this essay was still in an unfinished 
state, when his attention was again attracted to 
the subject by an address to the mechanics of 
London, which appeared in the Mechanics' Maga- 
zine, edited by Mr. Joseph Clinton Robertson. 
Of the promptitude with which Dr. Birkbeck 
immediately offered his able co-operation in the 
proposed plan for establishing the London Me- 



mechanics' institutions. 115 

chanics' Institution, an extract from the above 
named work will afford the most conclusive evi- 
dence. 

'* It will, we feel assured, give peculiar satisfac- 
tion to every well-wisher to the scheme, to learn 
that the first gentleman who responded to our 
invitation was the public spirited ^ndi philanthro- 
pic individual who, to adopt the language of a 
resolution of the Mechanics of Glasgow, of the 
22d of February last, had the honor 'of unfolding, 
first of all, with the commencement of the nine- 
teenth century, the temple of science to the arti- 
san' — we mean Dr. George Birkbeck, formerly 
professor in Anderson's Institution, Glasgow ; now 
physician in London. 

" Who but a man of a great and a generous 
mind., flinging aside all the prejudices of education 
and habit, soaring above most of those around him 
in his views of human capability, could have been 
the first, in the long lapse of ages, to step forward 
and invite the humble artisan, 'however scanty his 
means, or obscure his condition,' to come and draw 
water from the same stream at which a Galileo, a 
Bacon and a Newton had drunk of immortality ? " 

At the public meetings which were subsequently 
held at the Crown and Anchor Tavern, on the 
lith of November and the 2d of December, 
1823, Dr. Birkbeck was unanimously called to 
the chair ; and to his important assistance, in con- 
junction with many other gentlemen, the London 
Mechanics' Institution is chiefly indebted for 
its original establishment, and the success which 
has since marked its progress. When the first 



116 MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS. 

officers of the Institution were elected, on the 
15th of December, 18'23, Dr. Birkbeck was unani- 
mously chosen President, in which situation he has 
ever since devoted his great talents to the promo- 
tion of its interests, with a degree of zeal and 
perseverance which has seldom been equalled, and 
never surpassed. 

Having thus imperfectly performed the task of 
detailing the principal circumstances which have 
distinguished the progress of this truly excellent 
individual, it would be in vain to attempt a further 
illustration of his character by any feeble praises 
which our own feelint^s miijht dictate. Of the 
high estimation in which his genuine worth and 
extensive philosophical attainments are held, by 
those who have had ample opportunity of appre,- 
ciating them, some idea may be formed by the 
honors which have been conferred upon him by 
numerous scientific and other institutions. We 
have already said that he is President of the Lon- 
don Mechanics' Institution, Patron of the Glas- 
gow Mechanics' Institution, Physician to the Gen- 
eral Dispensary, and one of the Presidents of the 
Physical Society of Guy's Hospital. He is also 
President of the Meteorological Society, of the 
London Chemical Society, and of the Medical 
and Chirurgical Society of London ; Vice Presi- 
dent of the Surrey Literary Institution, and Patron 
of the Spitalfields Mechanics' Institution. 

At the first anniversary dinner of the Patrons 
and Members of the London Mechanics' Institu- 
tion, which was celebrated on the 2d of Decem- 
ber, 1824, after having on that day laid the first 
stone of their Theatre, with appropriate ceremo- 



117 

nies, Mr. Brougham, the early friend and coadjutor 
of Dr. Birkbeck, portrayed with his usual elo- 
quence the incalculable benefits which must result 
from the general diffusion of scientific knowled2:e 
among the operative classes of the community ; 
and congratulated the assembly on the number of 
mechanics' institutions which had, within the short 
space of twelve months from the establishment of 
the central institution in London, under the learned 
President's auspices, sprung up, as if by magic, in 
most of the principal manufacturing districts in the 
kingdom. Since that period, the number has been 
considerably augmented ; and in all human proba- 
bility, the author of this "great and good w^ork" 
will witness, for many years to come, the beneficial 
effects of his philanthropic exertions. But when 
the irrevocable decree shall be fulfilled, which 
mingles the dust of the enlightened philosopher 
with that of the untutored Indian, and confounds 
all distinction in the "cold obstruction" of the 
grave — when the heart that now glows with virtue 
and benevolence shall cease its pulsations forever, 
and the hand that is stretched forth to the assist- 
ance of unobtrusive merit shall be extended no 
more, the name of Dr. Birkbeck will be remem- 
bered by countless multitudes with respect and 
veneration ; in ages yet unborn it will be associated 
with those of the greatest benefactors of mankind, 
and the establishment of mechanics' institutions 
will be his passport to a glorious immortality ! 

The history of more than twelve additional 
years of activity and usefulness, in the life of this 
worthy benefactor of science and art, might be 



118 MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS. 

given, (for the works from which the above ac- 
count has been chiefly gathered were published in 
1825 ;) but we shall not attempt the task. It 
need only be observed that Dr. Blrkbeck is still 
very actively engaged in promoting the objects of 
popular education, and frequently gives lectures in 
various parts of the metropolis, especially when 
the wheels of a new society are to be put in mo- 
tion. We had the pleasure of hearing him lecture 
at the Mechanics' Institution, on the mechanism of 
the human frame, on the evening of the 24th of 
April, 1837. This was the birth day of the prin- 
cess Victoria ; and notwithstanding the great at- 
traction occasioned by the illuminations and festivi- 
ties of the evening, the lecture was well attended. 

It only remains to make some remarks which 
may, it is hoped, serve to set in a satisfactory light 
the true answer to the disputed question, to whom 
the honor really belongs, of having originated me- 
chanics' institutions. 

Our reply to this question is, that it belongs 
to Dr. Birkbeck ; and the reasons for giving this 
honor to him are plain and easy to be understood. 
It is acknowledged by all parties that he originated 
the Mechanics' Class at the Andersonian Institu- 
tion in Glasgow, in the year 1800, that it has been 
in being ever since, and that from this example 
have sprung the various institutions of a similar 
character in Great Britain and other parts of the 
world. 

But some say that the idea originated with 
Professor Anderson, the benevolent founder of the 
institution in which the Mechanics' Class originated. 



mechanics' institutions. 119 

What the precise ideas of that gentleman might 
have been, we cannot tell ; and those who assert 
his claims do not give the clause in his will touch- 
ing this matter. We are not, however, entirely in 
the dark on the subject, for we can come at the 
thing by making a comparison between the two 
classes taught by these gentlemen. Professor An- 
derson's antitoga or gownless class, dwelt upon by 
the writer of the article on " Mechanics' Institu- 
tions" in the Encyclopaedia Britannica, lately pub- 
lished, was very different from the one proposed 
by Dr. Birkbeck, or else how are we to account 
for the conduct of the Trustees of the Andersonlan 
Institution ; for when tliis new scheme, as it was 
called, was comtnunicated to them, the motives of 
the proposer were comniended, but in other re- 
spects " it excited smiles, as the delusive vision 
of youthful enthusiasm ; and it was even derided 
when considered in reference to the individuals for 
whose benefitit had been introduced. And although 
many of the trustees were intimately acquainted 
with the wants, the habits and the capabilities of 
the artisans, yet not one was disposed to express a 
favorable opinion of the proposition." And this 
is not to be wondered at ; for if we are rightly in- 
formed, although Professor Anderson had left his 
valuable library and apparatus in their charge, yet 
they had little or no funds at their disposal at that 
time, notwithstanding the "ample fortune" men- 
tioned in the article in the Encyclopaedia above 
alluded to. Indeed, it was not until after he had 
been engaged three years, that Dr. Birkbeck re- 
ceived any compensation, when the Trustees pre- 
sented him with £200. Nor does the fact that 



120 MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS. 

tbey hired a place and fitted it up for the Ander- 
sonian Institution, look as though an ample fortune 
had been left to their management. 

The facts of the case are simply these — that 
previous to this time they had a class at the Insti- 
tution very similar to the antitoga class ; but the 
one that Dr. B. proposed was quite different. A 
guinea was paid by those who attended the former 
class, whereas the artisans were admitted to the 
latter free of all expense.* Moreover, the new 
class was intended for a set of persons altogether 
different from those who had been in the habit of 
attending the former one. Of these, the few prac- 
tical men who attended were principally masters — 
persons who had some taste for the sciences, and 
to whom the expense was no object of considera- 
tion ; but the new class was composed of sober 
and intelligent viorkmen — those who labored with 
their hands, and whose tastes it was necessary to 
cultivate, before they could feel like devoting their 
time and money to the acquisition of science. 
And to be successful in this, it was necessary for 
the teacher to exhibit that kind sympathy for thern 
which is so natural with him, and which, to his 
praise be it said, he attributes to the early teachings 
of a kind-hearted mother. 

So little assistance did Dr. Birkheck receive 
from the Trustees, tliat the greatest economy was 
necessary on his part, in order to carry his plans 



* It should be observed, however, that at the second ses- 
sion they taxed themselves one shilling a head, and in this 
way, raised £25, there being 50r> of thein. This money Dr. 
B. would not touch, but gave £20 to the assistant, and £5 



mechanics' institutions. 121 

into execution. And if we were capable of the 
task, nothing could please us better than to sketch 
the portrait of this young enthusiast ; and in the 
grouping, on one side, to represent him in the shop 
of an artisan, in the act of giving instructions how 
to make some article of apparatus for his lectures, 
and surrounded by eager listeners, who had invol- 
untarily dropped their tools from a laudable curi- 
osity to catch an idea of the intended use of the 
work ; and on the other side, to represent him in 
the act of printing cards for the mechanic class, 
which, as well as an address to the mechanics of 
Glasgow, he actually did with his own hands, 
using a small press for this purpose, which had 
been left at the Institution by Dr. Garnett. This, 
we conceive, would be a fit subject for the histori- 
cal painter. 

But notwithstanding we are willing to go thus 
far in asserting Dr. Birkbeck's claim to the honor 
of originating mechanics' institutions, we do not 
lose sight of those favorable circumstances without 
which his exertions would not probably have been 
turned that way, or after having been made, might 
have been lost to posterity, for want of a successor 
able and willing to carry forward so noble an un- 
dertaking. We cannot too highly value the benev- 
olence of the founder of the Andersonian Institu- 
tion, or the perseverance and energy displayed for 
so long a period by Dr. Birkbeck's successor, the 
talented Dr. Ure, who has been the teacher of the 
Mechanics' Class so long, that at one period it 
was almost forgotten who first formed it. 
9 



122 MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS. 

The following extracts from the article in the 
Encyclopaedia Britannica, to which Mr. Clax- 
ton refers in the above remarks, comprise the 
substance of what is there said concerning the 
history of Mechanics' Institutions, and in par- 
ticular, of the Andersonian Institution. 

'^ It has been a subject of very considerable con- 
troversy, to whom the honor of having originated 
those institutions ought to be attributed. Some 
have contended that to Professor Anderson, the 
founder of the institution in Glasgow which bears 
his name, it is alone due ; because, in addition 
to the clauses in his will, which especially pro- 
vide for the formation of a class of manvfactiirers 
and ariificers, he had for a period of thirty years, 
while professor of natural philosophy in the Uni- 
versity of that city, opened a class to which manu- 
facturers and others had access, for the purpose of 
becoming acquainted with the fundamental princi- 
ples of experimental physics. Others, again, have 
atiirmed, that although Professor Anderson had 
such an intention in view when he framed his will, 
it was only through the exertions of Dr. Birkbeck, 
the second professorof the Andersonian Institution^ 
that the project was carried into complete and 
practical effect. It appears to us, however, that to 
Professor Anderson is certainly due the merit of 
having originated the idea of instructing that pre- 
viously neglected, but valuable portion of the com- 
munity. But while we give to that admission- all 
the weight to which it is entitled, we are of opinion, 
that in so far as regards the usefulness of the idea 



mechanics' institutions. 123 

when carried into effect, the merit is due to Dr. 
Birkbeck. Professor Anderson was in the frequent 
habit of visiting and spending several hours in the 
workshops of the mechanics of Glasgow ; and freely 
enterinor into conversation with them. A mono: 
others, he was often found at the workshop of our 
illustrious countryman, James Watt, then a watch- 
maker, in Glasgow ; and it was in consequence of 
the avidity with which the workmen availed them- 
selves of the theoretical information which, on 
these visits, he was in the constant practice of im- 
parting, that he first conceived the idea of bringing 
within their reach those principles of science, the 
attainment of which had hitherto been confined to 
the higher and wealthier classes. 

He then commenced within the walls of the 
university, a course of Lectures on Natural Phi- 
losophy, for the especial benefit of that class of 
society, and divided the course into two branches ; 
one meeting four times a week, in which the 
mathematical principles of the sciences were con- 
sidered apart from experimental illustration ; and 
the other, which met twice a week, consisting 
entirely of those branches which admitted of such 
illustration, and in which the principles of mathe- 
matics were less called into operation. This latter 
class was regularly and numerously attended by a 
great many manufacturers and others engaged in 
operative occupations, and was continued for several 
years, with great success. He called it his antitoga 
class, in contradistinction to his regular academic 
attendance, which was denominated the toga class. 
It was in consequence of the decided improvement 
in the arts and manufactures of Glasgow, which, 



124 MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS. 

from that time, became very evident, and which 
Professor Anderson justly attributed to his instruc- 
tions, that he conceived the truly philanthropic 
intention of bequeathing his ample fortune for 
"the good of mankind and ttie improvement of 
science." In the provisions of his will, there was 
an especial reference to the formation of classes 
upon [he principle of that which he had himself 
so successfully taught within the walls of the 
university. 

Professor Anderson died on the 16th of January, 
1796; and at a meeting of his executors, held on 
the 23d of March following, it was resolved to 
carry his intentions into immediate effect. Ac- 
cordingly, on the 21st of September, of the same 
year, Dr. Thomas Garnett was elected first pro- 
fessor of natural philosophy. 

The lectures, however, were at first only popular. 
Dr. Garnett, in 1800, was appointed to the chair 
of natural philosophy in the Royal Institution of 
Great Britain, founded at the suggestion of Count 
Rumford and Sir Joseph Banks ; and Dr. George 
Birkbeck was elected in his stead. It was then, 
iipon the suggestion of Dr. Birkbeck, that the 
trustees were enabled to give full effect to Pro- 
fessor Anderson's favorite idea, as expressed in his 
will, of affording instruction in experimental phi- 
losophy to the artisans of Glasgow. Such was 
the origin of the first mechanics' class, which has 
now been taught for upwards of thirty-six years, 
with increasing success and advantage to this inter- 
estino; class of students. 

But important as was this era in the history of 
the class which was thus instituted, it was not until 



125 

upwards of twenty years afterwards, that the ex- 
ample was followed by any other city in tlie king- 
dom. At length, however, in 1821, the School 
of Arts, for the instruction of mechanics, was 
formed in Edinburgh ; and within a year or two 
afterwards, the example was followed, and another 
institution of the same nature was originated in 
Glasgow, in consequence of some differences which 
had arisen between Dr. Ure, (Dr. Birkbeck's suc- 
cessor in the Andersonian Institution,) and the 
students who attended his operative class. A 
great many of these left the Andersonian, and 
founded the Mechanics' Institution, of which Dr. 
Birkbeck, at their solicitation, consented to become 
the patron. About the same time, the London 
Mechanics' Institution was founded ; and within a 
very few years after this period, there was hardly 
a city of any note in the kingdom which had not 
institutions of a kindred description." 

We believe Mr. Claxton contemplates the 
preparation of a more extended and general 
account of Mechanics' Institutions, both in 
England and this country, than it has been 
possible to furnish in this volume, from the 
documents within our reach. We have hopes 
that he may be enabled to give to the world 
a more complete history of these institutions 
than has ever yet been published. 



126 MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS. 



LONDON MECHANICAL INSTITUTION. 

A BRIEF history of this society has been given 
in the preceding memoir, in the language of 
Mr. Claxton himself, its originator, and proba- 
bly its chief supporter. It was, we have reason 
to believe, the first society ever formed by me- 
chanics among themselves^ for improvement in 
useful and practical knowledge. The only 
institution having in view similar purposes, 
which preceded it, (so far as we can learn,) 
was the Mechanics' Class of Dr. Birkbeck, at 
Glasgow; and of the existence of this those 
who formed the "Mechanical Institution" 
seem to have been entirely ignorant. 

From its unfortunately short duration, from 
the narrowness of the circle within which it 
became known, and still more, perhaps, from 
the humble character of those who composed 
it, this society has not made any conspicuous 
figure in the annals of benevolent effort in be- 
half of the human mind. And yet, we doubt 
not, it contained within itself ihQ undeveloped 
germ of much more real utility and benefit to 
the artisan classes, than have characterized 
some institutions which have taken the first 
rank, as promoters of science and the arts. 



LONDON MECHANICAL INSTITUTION. 127 

The following paragraphs comprise the prin- 
cipal part of a circular written by Mr. Claxton 
himself, which was the first printed document, 
(or public notice,) relating to the formation of 
this society : 

Ever}'^ art is improved by the emulation of competitors. — Johnson. 

A few Mechanics having associated themselves 
together for the purpose of establishing a Society of 
Ingenious Working Mechanics, of all descriptions, 
provided they are respectable men of good cha- 
racter and a studious disposition, wish for a few 
intelligent persons to step forward and assist them 
in forming a Committee, and composing a set of 
Rules and Regulations for the conducting of a So- 
ciety which has for its object the study and im- 
provement of the Arts of this kingdom. 

We are well aware that there already exist many 
valuable Societies for the promotion of the Arts, 
but they do not seem to be adapted to the capacity 
of a Working Mechanic. We do not mean as to 
their terms of admission or subscription afterwards, 
but the recommendation they require seems to be 
the grand obstacle, combined with the very scientific 
style of language and the gentleman-like appear- 
ance of their Members ; so that the class of people 
that compose those Societies, and the class of people 
that we should wish to see possessed of the leading 
principles of the various branches of science, do 
not seem to have any inclination to associate 
together, the reason of which we cannot exactly 
determine upon — but it appears to be a sort of 



128 



MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS. 



customary pride, that does not allow of the various 
degrees of men in high and low rank to unite in a 
body ; and so far, it may be a very good thing, as 
it obliges men who wish to set themselves forward 
in the world, to endeavor to obtain distinction by 
their meritorious exertions. 

By taking a view of the case in this light, it 
would seem advisable to form a Society a few 
degrees below those already in being, in order to 
make a path wherein the industrious Tradesman 
may walk, and to give him an opportunity to im- 
prove the talents with which he is blessed : the 
advantages that would arise from the formation and 
proper conducting of such a Society would be 
numerous. 

Such a Society would afford both rational and 
useful amusement, in attending once a week to 
hear a lecture on some useful branch of science, 
or the discussion of some question on mechanical 
or philosophical pursuits. It would create in us a 
disposition to pass our leisure time in a way much 
preferable to that already practised by too many. 
It would make us better ornaments to society — 
better to ourselves, our employers, and conse- 
quently to our families. 

As men's minds are not all alike fitted for study, 
we invite such as feel themselves inclined, to come 
forward and join in establishing a society which will 
afford to them benefits above those of other men. 
As there must be some of all sorts, let us advance 
as far as we can ; and as it falls to our lot to follow 
the practice of the arts for the support of our bodies, 
let us in our leisure time endeavor to improve the 
mind, by studying those points on which the prac- 



LONDON MECHANICAL INSTITUTION. 129 

tice is founded, called the Theory, not forgetting 
the principle laid down by Mr. Owen — ^^That there 
always remains among a certain number of "persons , 
a sufficiency of talent to instruct and amuse.'^ 



The society must evidently have contained 
some rude materials, which should find it ne- 
cessary, "for the purpose of preserving good 
order '^ — for so it stands in the original Record 
Book of the Society, still in the possession of 
Mr. Claxton — to pass resolutions that, "if any 
member comes into the room intoxicated, or 
does curse, swear, or use any obscene language 
or discourse, promote gaming, propose a wager, 
or introduce a stranger without leave of the 
President, he shall be fined sixpence for each 
offence." 

This, however, is precisely what was to be 
expected of a club of any kind, gathered from 
among the uneducated mechanic classes, at that 
period. The wonder rather is, that there were 
so many among them who coald agree, as they 
did, to pursue together the paths of science, 
while laboring under disadvantages so great 
as theirs. 

The following is the plan which they laid 
out for themselves, and which they seem to 
have pursued steadily enough while they kept 
together : 



130 MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS. 

" The members of this Institution to meet once 
a week, and a lecture to be given once a fortnight ; 
the intervening evenings to be for the discussion of 
questions, reading extracts, and settling the affairs 
of the society. 

" This Institution is to depend upon the gratuit- 
ous exertions of its own members for lectures. 
Each member will be expected to lecture in rota- 
tion, or read extracts from rare and valuable works, 
to occupy not less than one hour." 

We do not find much acconnt of the matter 
or method of their discussions or lectures, but 
the foUowmg minute, which occurs on one leaf 
of the Record Book, may perhaps suffice to 
satisfy curiosity : 

''Oct. 28, 1817. Resolved that the cause of 
the draught in chimneys before lighting the fire, 
and of the extra draught after lighting the fire, be 
for discussion next Tuesday evening." 

A notice of this society given in the London 
Mechanics' Magazine of February, 1831, will 
appropriately close this account : 

The hisiitution in Southmnpton Buildings, not the 
first Lo7idon Mechanics^ Institution. 

We always thought that it was a fact beyond 
all dispute, that the present London Mechanics' 
Institution was the first establishment of the kind, 
in the British metropolis ; and though it has been 
far from realizing our anticipations of utility, we 



LONDON MECHANICAL INSTITUTION. 131 

have seen reason enough, in the portion of good it 
has done, to deem it a just matter of self-congratu- 
lation, that hy us, that institution was planned, and 
51/^5 organized. Some documents, however, have 
been recently transmitted to us from Boston, in 
the United States, by Mr. Claxton, a mechanic, 
who a few years ago emigrated thither from 
London, and who is honorably distinguishing him- 
self among his adopted countrymen, by his efforts 
to inspire them with a taste for scientific inquiry, 
which, we freely acknowledge, throw a very 
different light on the matter. It appears from 
these documents, that several years before we 
thought of calling upon the mechanics of London, 
to form an association for cultivating a knowledge 
of the principles of the arts they practice, some of 
these mechanics had already done so among them- 
selves, and of their own accord ; though from some 
(unexplained) cause or other, the institution of 
their formation never attained to any magnitude — 
nor ever acquired any considerable degree of pub- 
licity. The institution we allude to, was established 
in August, 1817 — about five years before the foun- 
dation of the present London Mechanics' Institu- 
tion — and differing as little from it in name as in 
character, being called " The Mechanical Institu- 
tion." In an Introduction to the code of Laws of 
this Mechanical Institution, " Printed by J. Mills, 
Shoe-lane," it is said to have been " established 
for the purpose of disseminating useful knowledge 
among its members and their friends, by attending 
lectures and discussions on various branches of 
science;" and then follows a just, thous;h rather 
florid exposition of the advantages of such knowl- 



132 MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS. 

edge to men of business. *' The time and talents 
of individuals are in general so much taken up 
about the affairs of life, as to render them inca- 
pable of much progress in the various branches of 
knowledge. But still, knowledge is desirable, as 
it is a bridge that will carry us in safety over the 
widest and deepest streams: it is at once the 
fountain of true happiness, the real source of en- 
joyment, and an inexhaustible mine of wealth. 
Moreover, it is the only acquisition not subjected 
to the vicissitudes of human existence — that of 
which the most determined effort of tyranny cannot 
bereave the possessor." The object of the mem- 
bers is still more explicitly declared, in the code of 
laws itself, to be " the mutual instruction of each 
other on all subjects connected with the arts, sci- 
ences, manufactures, and commerce ; but more 
particularly on such matters as lead, or may seem 
to lead, to any improvement in the mechanical 
arts;" and a provision is added, that "no topic 
of theology or politics be discussed by this society." 
The resemblance, in short, between the two insti- 
tutions, is altogether most complete — so much so, 
as to leave the founders and promoters of the one 
last in date, nothing beyond a greater share of 
success to boast of. 

Mr. Claxton was, we presume, the principal 
promoter, if not the founder, of the society ; and 
it is not improbable that its decline and extinction, 
may have been owing to that gentleman's emigra- 
tion to America. 



METHUEN LITERARY SOCIETY. 133 



METHUEN LITEKARY SOCIETY. 

This Society, in which Mr. Claxton took so 
lively an interest during his short residence in 
Methuen, seems to deserve special notice, from 
the fact of its being one of the earliest of those 
societies which have since been so generally 
established, under the name of Lyceums. 

The first meeiing, we learn, was held Dec. 
7, 1819, when it was voted to accept a Consti- 
tution which had been prepared ; and the per- 
sons present constituted themselves a society, 
for the purpose of reading, and the promotion 
of useful information, with the title of " The 
Methuen Social Society for Reading and Gene- 
ral Inquiry." A number of useful and inter- 
esting works were read by the society, in suc- 
cession. Not long after the formation of the 
society, it contained between forty and fifty 
members, male and female. Afterwards, the 
interest abated, and the number of members 
diminished. Finally, in the autumn of 1823, 
there were but four or five regular attendants ; 
and a consultation was held on the subject of 
dissolving the society. 

The further history of the society, and the 
part taken by Mr. Claxton in resuscitating the 



134 MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS. 

interest of its members, has been already given 
in his own words, in the Memoir. 

We need only give, in addition to these re- 
marks, an extract from an anniversary Address 
deUvered by Mr. C. before the society, in which 
he will be seen to have had in his mind's eye 
at that time, the very plan of the much talked 
of " Lyceum system," which has since been 
so successfully and so extensively put in ope- 
ration : 

'' Who will have the heart to deny the utility of such 
an institution as ours ? Will it not prepare its mem- 
bers for future usefulness in the world ? Will it 
not make us better ornaments to society — better 
to ourselves, our neighbors and our country. * * 
*' There is no way so well calculated to obtain 
knowledge, as by a society like our own, composed 
of individuals of all ages and both sexes, possessing 
various talents, and pursuing different occupations^ 
each throwing in his mite for the good of all, and 
receiving the benefit of the contributions of all the 
others. * * * * * * 

" If societies of this kind were w^ell supported in 
every town in this Commonwealth, and their influ- 
ence spread abroad until they reached each other's 
sphere, the great mass of the people would soon 
find more rational amusement than they do at 
present. That such a state of things may soon 
come to pass, is my sincere wish." 



135 



BOSTON MECHANICS' LYCEUM. 

The following particulars, (supplementary 
to the account given in the preceding Memoir,) 
respecting the origin and early history of this 
institution, of which Mr. Claxton was Presi- 
dent, are from an article in the "Young Me- 
chanic" for August, 1S32 : 

The first meeting in favor of forming a Me- 
chanics' Lyceum in this city (Boston,) was called 
by Mr. Josiah Holbrook, Feb. 5ih, 1831. Mr. 
Timothy Claxton presided, and Mr. W. S. Baxter 
acted as Secretary. The evening was occupied 
by the discussion of this question — " Has any class 
of the community stronger inducements or better 
opportunities for mental improvement than practi- 
cal mechanics? " which was decided in the ne^a- 
tive. The meeting adjourned to Feb. 12th, for 
the discussion of another question, and to take into 
further consideration the subject of forming a Ly- 
ceum. At this meeting, a proposition was made 
to form an association to be called the " Union 
Lyceum," and another, to form one to be called 
the "Mechanics' Lyceum," both of which were 
referred to the next meeting, which was voted to 
be held Feb. 19th. The latter proposition pre- 
vailed at this meeting ; and a committee was ap- 
pointed to draft a Constitution, to be reported at 
an adjourned meeting, Feb. 25th. 

The following persons were elected officers for 
the first season : — Timothy Claxton, President ; 



136 MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS. 

G. W. Light, Secretary ; James Cooper, Trea- 
surer ; Wm. S. Damrell and Joseph Wightman, 

Curators. 

At the first regular meeting of the Lyceum, a 
system of exercises was adopted, consisting of an 
elementary course of Mechanical Philosophy and 
Geometry, interspersed with discussions of interest- 
ing questions. 

The subjects of the lectures were treated upon 
by the members of the Lyceum, seven of them 
taking parts on the evenings of the lectures, and 
each one occupying about a quarter of an hour. 

At a meeting held June 7th, (the same year,) 
the following subjects for lectures were adopted, 
for the second term, viz., Architecture, Political 
Economy, Botany, Geology, Natural History, As- 
tronomy, Biography of Practical Men. The mem- 
bers were left to choose their own subjects for 
essays. At a subsequent meeting, it was voted 
that Declamation should be added to the regular 
exercises of the Lyceum, which was afterwards 
found to increase the interest and usefulness of the 
society. 

We are able to confirm the testimony of 
Mr. Claxton, that this society has been the 
means of doing much good, in the way of 
eliciting and cherishing a taste for the ac- 
quirement of useful knowledge, among those 
who came under its influence. The closing 
remarks of the writer of the above quoted ar- 
ticle will explain the Society's views of the 
utility and advantages of their plan : 



BOSTON mechanics' LYCEUM. 137 

" As to the success of the Lyceum, thus far, 
notwitlistanding its number of members has been 
small, the improvement of those who have devoted 
their attention to it, has exceeded the anticipations 
of the projectors. They now feel confident, that 
the plan of having the exercises conducted by the 
members alone, is not only in accordance with the 
true Lyceum system, but far m.ore productive of 
solid improvement, than the mere attendance upon 
popular lectures. In the one case, the members 
acquire a habit of doing their own studying and 
speaking, and consequently of calling into exercise 
the facuhies of their own minds, and using the 
means for improving their own manner of delivery ; 
while in the other, most of the hearers of popular 
lectures retain little of the instruction they receive, 
and are too apt to go away with the impression 
that, because the lecturer's duty is performed, their 
own task is as certainly completed. If the former 
obtain only a smattering knowledge of science — 
which we maintain is not the case — the latter do 
not obtain even that. It is not my design to dero- 
gate in the least from the real merits of the popu- 
lar system of conducting Lyceums. While kept 
within its proper sphere, it may be of extensive 
benefit; but I do maintain, that popular lecturing 
ought not to be the regular exercise of any insti- 
tution, the professed object of which is mutual im- 
provement. I am aware of the difficulty of giving 
very great popularity to an association which de- 
pends wholly upon its own resources for advance- 
ment in knowledge ; but still I am of opinion, that 
the improvement of a Lyceum depends as much 
upon the faithful exercise of its own powers, as 
that of an individual does upon his own eftbrts." 
10 



138 MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS. 

As a matter of curiosity, the following brief 
article, published by Mr. Claxton in the Lon- 
don New Monthly Magazine in 1816, is inserted 
here, it being the first specimen of his compo- 
sition ever put in print. 

THE IGNIS FATUUS. 

In some works I find the Ignis fatuus described 
as a meteor, chiefly seen in dark nights, frequenting 
meadows, marshes, and other moist places, known 
among the people by the names of Will-with-a- 
Wisp, and Jack-with-a-Lanterri. We are further 
told, that it seems to arise from an exhalation, 
which, being kindled in the air, reflects a sort of 
thin flame in the dark, without any sensible heat, 
and that it is found flying along rivers, hedges, he, 
because it there meets with a stream of air to direct 
it. In other books, I have found the above account 
of the ignis fatuus contradicted. The light pro- 
duced is there said to proceed from the lantern fly, 
whose body is very brilliant, and the under side of 
its wings glazed ; these, when extended, serve as a 
reflector. A gentleman asserted that he followed 
one for several hours, which would fly against the 
wind, mount over hedges, houses, he. — This was 
not the effect of the wind. 

The question is, whether this light is produced 
by a vapor or a fly, and whether it is calculated to 
do any mischief? Correct notions on this subject 
would greatly tend to remove the fears of ignorant 
country people. 



A PAPER FOR ALL. 139 

The following, from the London Literary 
Journal of 1818, is no less interesting than the 
preceding, evidencing, as it does, the disposi- 
tion of Mr. C. to turn everything to a practical 
account, with particular reference to the benefit 
of the mechanic classes. 

A PAPER FOR ALL. 

To the Editor of the Literary Journal. 

Sir : — Permit me to congratulate you on the 
subject of your paper, and at the same time to 
offer a word of advice to the mechanics of London 
and its vicinity. As you wish to make the Lite- 
rary Journal a Paper for All, and as you pub- 
lish It on Saturday morning, I advise such of my 
brother mechanics as are in the habit of spending 
sixpence of a Saturday night, for the sake of com- 
pany or variety, to make a trial of your paper, as 
there is to be found in it both variety and utility ; , 
and it will serve the whole family, who, after all, 
will have a good book to show for the money. 

A JOURNEYMAN SMITH. 

P. S. Some may say, "I should like it better 
if there was a little more of mechanical informa- 
tion ta be found in the Literary Journal." In my 
opinion, the best way to supply that is, for me- 
chanics to become correspondents ; and 1 will ven- 
ture to hope you will not turn away any useful 
information. 



140 MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS. 

Several articles here following are selected 
from among Mr. Claxton's contributions to the 
Young Mechanic, of which some account is 
given in the latter part of the Memoir. To 
those who are unacquainted with that work, 
as well as with Mr. C. himself, they will not, 
we think, be found wanting in interest; and 
those who are familiar with botli will, no doubt, 
gladly recognize their old acquaintances in this 
new dress. 



HINTS ON THE ECONOMY OF HEAT, 

AND PREVENTING ACCIDENTS FROM FIRE. 

Many distressing cases of fire are known to 
originate from stove pipes, and flues of furnaces ; 
also from sparks coming in contact with wearing 
apparel, and other combustible substances. Now 
if the number of stoves and fire places could be 
greatly reduced, a corresponding diminution of 
these conflagrations would necessarily be the con- 
sequence. 

The question which naturally suggests itself, is, 
how can we dispense with our stoves and fire 
places ? I answer, pull down your chimneys, and 
place them under your streets in a horizontal posi- 
tion, three feet or more below the surface of the 
ground, and let them serve as conduits for hot air. 
The air may be heated at an establishment located 



ECONOMY OF HEAT. 141 

near some navigable canal, or good land convey- 
ance, where fuel can be bad at the cheapest rate ; 
and it may be forced along these subterraneous 
tubes, by a steam engine, or other adequate power, 
and supplied to the inhabitants as water and gas 
now are. 

Let us picture to ourselves a plan for a town as 
follows: — The dwelling houses to be built without 
chimneys or fire places ; the heat, when required, 
to be supplied by the town or by private compa- 
nies, as might be found best. At the back of 
every house, a kitchen, having a fire place, should 
be built ; and any other out houses or sheds that 
mio;ht be wanted. The back door mio-ht be cov- 
ered with sheet iron on the side next the kitchen, 
to prevent the fire from communicating to the 
house, in case the kitchen or sheds were on fire. 

Mechanics' shops should be built unconnected 
with dwelling houses. A number of mechanics, 
having shops near each other, might unite in the 
employment of a steam engine, to drive lathes and 
other machinery. If the various branches of art 
were carried on in the vicinity of each other, much 
time might be saved, both to the mechanics and 
their customers. 

The plan of the streets is of much consequence, 
as it respects the facility of finding a fire, when an 
alarm is given. I was once struck with the admi- 
rable plan of a spider's web. The animal keeping 
watch in the centre, how easy it was for him to 
start in any direction, that an unlucky fly might get 
entanded in his net. I thouo;ht at the time that 
this would be an excellent plan for the streets of a 
town, with a watch tower in the centre, and a de- 



142 MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS. 

pot for fire engines, together with a market, and 
other establishments requiring a central situation. 
Every district might also have its fire engine. By 
keeping a good look-out of a night, the direction 
of a fire might be quickly ascertained ; and an in- 
dex that swivelled round might point towards the 
fire ; or the town might be divided into sections, 
and the number of the section where the fire was^ 
presented alternately to all the radiating streets. 



NEW AIR ENGINE. 

The annexed figure is selected from among a 
number of drawings of machines of this descrip- 
tion : some of them swing like a pendulum. I 
have set at work several models of various forms, 
on similar principles. 




PERPETUAL MOTION. 143 

In this machine there are two copper balls, each 
having a tube open at the lower end, which termi- 
nates in a vessel of water. When one of the balls 
is placed over the lamp, some of the air which it 
contains is expelled, and escapes at the open end, 
and rises through the water. If the other ball be 
DOW brought over the lamp, the air will be rarified 
in that also, while a vacuum is forming in the first. 
At the same time, the water rises in the tube 
above the level of the water in the vessel. This 
will now preponderate, and bring the first ball over 
the lamp again. The w^ater will now be driven 
out of its tube by expanding the air, while the 
other tube is fiUing with water, to be brought 
down in its turn ; and so on alternately. 



PERPETUAL MOTION A PERPETUAL 
NOTION. 

Mechanics seem to be as far from solving the 
question relative to a perpetual motion, as they 
were two thousand years ago ; and yet many of 
them are still troubled with the old mania. No 
reasoning will deter them from the pursuit. I 
suppose the reason why those that know better do 
not endeavor to stop this kind of speculation is, 
that they think as Bishop VVilkins did two hundred 
years ago, when he compared them to the man 
who dug the vineyard for a hid treasure, who, 
although he did not find it, yet made the ground 



144 MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS. 

more fruitful. But working at models of this kind 
is certainly a very expensive and tedious way of 
studying the science of mechanics. Reading and 
attending lectures with experiments, are much bet- 
ter. The Academy of Sciences in Paris have 
resolved that they will have nothing to do with 
pretended discoveries of a perpetual motion. They 
have decided that the invention is impossible, and 
that all attempts at the discovery of it are a mere 
waste of time. The quadrature of the circle, 
and the trisection of an angle, are also, in their 
opinion, problems impossible of solution. 

There is a wide difference between a perpetual 
motion and a self-mover, which latter is, indeed, 
what the former term is used to signify. The for- 
mer moves perpetually, and may be any human 
contrivance put in motion by the ebbing and flow- 
ing of the tides, the waters of a never failinsj cata- 
ract, variations of the atmospheric pressure, the 
expansion and contraction of metals and other 
bodies ; in fact, any motion that the great Author 
of nature has made, will, if we can hook our ma- 
chine to it, serve this purpose. But the latter — a 
self-mover — show me one, if you can ? I will en- 
close it in a box ; and ask this question — Does this 
machine move without the aid of any cause be- 
yond the limits of this box, and yet, after it has 
moved for a definite length of titne, will it appear 
as likely to continue as it did at first? 

There are only two kinds of motion with which 
we are acquainted — mechanical and chemical. In 
all mechanical operations, there is a loss of power. 
In the steam engine, it is common to allow one 
third of the power of the steam for the friction of 



PERPETUAL MOTIOxN. 145 

the engine. One pound of power applied to any 
machine whatever, will not raise a pound weight 
through as much space as itself descended. Mo- 
tion occasioned by chemical action must come to 
a stand; for the materials acted upon are continu- 
ally undergoing decomposition, or are altered in 
such a manner that they do not return to their for- 
mer state, and in the same place. 

In illustration of this, take the steam engine for 
an example. The fuel of the fire is acted upon 
chemically, and is decomposed ; and no art can 
return it to its former state. So of the water in 
the boiler: although the steam will return to the 
state of water, yet some of it will be decomposed, 
and form an oxide on the sides of the heated 
metal ; and another portion will escape beyond our 
reach. Gunpowder is a source of great power, 
but the materials of its composition are dissolved 
in one discharge. For fear of being tedious, I 
will conclude with a brief quotation from Mr. 
Banks: — "When a man tells me he can construct 
a water wheel in such a manner that, when once 
put in motion, it shall raise water to keep itself 
moving, or that he has constructed a pump in such 
a manner that one man may do the work of ten, 
I pay the same attention to him as if he told me 
he could create a system of worlds, and command 
them to move." 



146 MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS. 



THEORY AND PRACTICE. 

It will not be denied, that the prosperity of this 
country depends in part on our manufactures ; and 
these again, depend on improvements in science 
and the mechanic arts. No man can be said to be 
a finished workman, if he is ignorant of the theory 
on which his practice is founded. A man who is 
well versed in arithmetic and geometry, together 
with the laws or properties of simple machines, 
(improperly called mechanical powers,) with their 
effects, when combined, as in compound machines, 
— I say, a man that understands these, and the 
laws of attraction, of simple and compound forces, 
the various properties of aeriform and watery fluids, 
with some knowledge of chemistry, — such a man, 
if he sees a plan on paper, hears it described, or 
reads of it, especially if he is a practical man, will 
be able to judge of its merits more correctly, in less 
time, and consequently at less expense, than if he 
were merely a workman. In the latter case, he 
must construct his model. If this is done in a 
bungling manner, it will not perform, but he may 
conclude it would if it had been well made. This 
is all guess work. I recollect reading an observa- 
tion which goes to confirm this ; "that if a plan of 
the stearji engine had been shown to Archimedes, 
he would have been able at once to say what it 
w^as capable of doing — that is, whether it would 
work, and what power it possessed." Now if our 
mechanics understood the principles of science, 
what time and expense would be saved ! 



HYDKOSTATIC LAMPS. 



147 



HYDROSTATIC LAMPS. 






In the winter of 1828-9, I tried a number of 
experiments, with a view to the invention of a 
lamp of simple construction, that should answer 
the purpose of a complicated and costly French 
clock-lamp which I had seen. Several of these 
lamps had been imported for our wealthy citizens, 
at about ^75 or ^150 a pair; and which, when 
out of order, it was difficult to get repaired. 

They are ingeniously made to pump up the oil 
by clock-work, which is moved by a spring, from 
a reservoir in the foot of the lamp, to a small cis- 
tern in the upper part, which is furnished with a 
wick on the argand principle. If the machine 
should pump up more oil than is wanted, the sur- 
plus runs down a small waste pipe into the reser- 



148 MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS. 

voir again. Fig. 1 represents a French clock- 
lamp, with the machinery enclosed in the lower 
part of the pedestal, marked a, and the oil in the 
part B. There are two tubes inside the pillar c, 
one to convey the oil to the cistern at top, and the 
other to carry down the surplus oil. 

My first attempt was to make a lamp (which is 
represented at fig. 2) on the principle of the hy- 
drostatic bellows. I procured a bladder of about 
three inches in diameter, and capable of holding 
half a pint of oil. The neck of it I secured to 
one end of a small tube eighteen inches long ; and 
to the other €nd of the tube, a glass lamp, having 
a hole through the bottom, was cemented. A 
lead weight, with a hole through it to receive the 
tube, and shaped to fit the upper part of the blad- 
der, was so adjusted that it would press the oil 
from the bladder just half w^ay up the glass lamp. 
The bladder and weight were enclosed in a tin 
case, which answered for a foot ; and the tube 
would move freely up and down in the centre of 
the top of the case. The lamp, thus prepared, 
was lighted and placed on the mantel-piece ; and 
after burning undisturbed for nine hours, the oil 
stood rather higher in the lamp than it did at first. 

This lamp will burn much longer than the com- 
mon kind, on account of the greater quantity of 
oil in the reservoir ; and will give a better light, 
because the oil can be kept always at the most 
suitable distance from the flame, by the adjustment 
of the weight. These are important points, and 
cannot fail to be appreciated, by persons wanting 
a uniform light for a considerable length of time. 



HYDROSTATIC LAMPS. 149 

The only difficulties I experienced with this 
lamp were, that in very cold weather, the weight 
was not sufficient to raise the chilled oil through 
so small a tuhe ; and if the lamp was placed in a 
situation where it w^as subject to disturbance by 
violent shaking, like that of striking the table on 
which it stood with the hand, or jumping on tlie 
floor, the oil would be put in motion, and raised 
higher in the lamp. 

The lamp just described may be called self-act- 
ing ; but 1 made several others, in which the oil 
was forced up by hand. One of the best of these, 
which has been in use in my family for about five 
years, I will now describe. It is represented at 
Fig. 3, and consists of a glass lamp, and a tube 
passing into a case below, as in Fig. 2 ; but instead 
of a bladder being fixed at the lower end of the 
tube, it is formed into a piston, and slides into a 
larger tube, which, with two valves, one at the 
bottom of the large tube below the piston, and the 
other at the bottom of the glass lamp, closing the 
end of the small tube, forms a complete pumping 
apparatus. The piston is depressed by the finger 
applied at a, and is raised by a spiral spring, which 
surrounds the small tube above the piston. The 
oil is put into the case at b, in this lamp; but in 
the self-acting one, it is introduced at the top of 
the glass lamp; and in both, if the oil should by 
accident be forced over the top, it will pass into 
the case where the tube enters. 



150 MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS. 

A NEW DISCOVERY. 

apprentices' library associations. 

A DISCOVERY has lately been made, which 
promises to be of great benefit to all classes of 
the community, especially to our mechanics ; and 
particularly the younger portion of them. This 
contrivance, when put into extensive operation, 
possesses so much power, that the effects produced 
by the steam engine dwindle into insignificance, 
when compared with those which it is able to pro- 
duce. It is believed that suitable materials for 
the construction of these machines exist in every 
section of the country; indeed, some persons are 
of opinion that there are but few towns in which 
materials are not to be found, suitable for the 
w^ork. 

1 have had an opportunity of witnessing the 
operation of several of these machines, within a 
few months. One or two of them pleased me so 
much, that I was induced to attempt a description 
of them. The materials require considerable judg- 
ment in their selection ; and they must be sea- 
soned for years before they are fit for any part of 
the work. The main-spring or first mover, and 
some other parts, should be made of well tempered 
materials, for the several wheels, levers, &c., to be 
acted upon, are of such a nature, that they are 
subject to some irregularities in their movements. 
These difficulties, however, may be overcome by 
skilful manaoement. 



A NEW DISCOVERY. 151 

Like most kinds of machinery, the better the 
several parts are fitted and poHshed, the more likely 
they will be to perform well. But it appears ne- 
cessary that the various rubbing parts should be 
kept in motion for some time before the machine 
can be said to be finished ; for, after the workman 
has done his best, there will still remain many sharp 
edges, as well as protuberances and eccentricities, 
which had entirely escaped his notice, or whose 
removal was beyond his art. 

Those persons who have devoted most time and 
money towards perfecting this invention, do not 
wish to monopolize the business by a patent, but 
would be glad to furnish all the assistance in their 
power towards establishing them in various parts 
of the country. These machines are not of that 
class called labor-saving, but their introduction will 
have a direct tendency to lessen the expenses of 
many persons. The laboring classes will reap 
their full proportion of the benefits, if they act 
wisely, and adopt them without delay; and there 
is no danger of too many being introduced, as the 
article manufactured is not hkely to become a drug 
in the market. 

I was present the other evening at the anniver- 
sary celebration of the " Boston Mechanic Ap- 
prentices' Library Association," at Chauncey Hall ; 
where an Address and a Poem were delivered by 
two of the members. These exercises appeared to 

give creneral satisfaction to the numerous audience 



that attended 'on this occasion. This is certainly 

one of the most useful institutions in the city. 

The members have the sole charge of an extensive 



152 MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS. 

library, and they rent a room where tbey hold two 
meetings a week, one for lecturing and debating, 
and the other for the distribution of books. At 
both meetings, when no exercises are going on, 
they amuse themselves by reading the papers, 
which they are supphed with by the kindness of 
our publishers. Their exercises create a demand 
for scientific books, that might otherwise be slum- 
bering on their shelves. In addition to their Hbrary, 
they have commenced a cabinet of minerals, and 
specimens of the various kinds of wood, he. Does 
not this afford a fine chance for the young me- 
chanics of Boston to improve themselves? 

Apprentices' libraries exist in various cities and 
large towns in the Union ; and many more might 
be formed with advantage, especially if the young 
folks have exercises to perform. They will then 
have some inducements for study. When they are 
free, they will make good members of societies for 
mutual improvement. It seems necessary that 
there should be a link of this kind, in the chain of 
that education which begins as soon as we have 
any discernment, and continues as long as our 
faculties are preserved. We are learning all the 
time, and our minds will be filled with knowledge, 
of some kind or other. Then it must be a great 
discovery, to find a plan by which even the labor- 
ing classes may, by associating together, improve 
themselves in useful, practical knowledge. 



AMPHIBIOUS STEAMER. 153 



AMPHIBIOUS STEAMER. 

The amazing success with which steam has of 
late been applied, both on land and water, sur- 
passes the most sanguine expectations of the me- 
chanical student ; and almost realizes the imagina- 
tions of the poet, who says, 

" Soon shall thy arm, unconquered steam, afar 
Drag the slow barge, or drive the rapid car; 
Or, on wide waving wings expanded bear 
The flying chariot through the fields of air." 

But before we are prepared to mount into the 
air, by the force of steam, it will be necessary to 
make another improvement, so as to unite the 
steam boat and steam carriage in one machine, 
that will be capable of travelling both on land 
and water. I believe this can be done on a small 
scale, for pleasure if not for profit. A boat can 
be made light enough to answer for the body of a 
carriage, and yet strong enough to bear a little 
beating about at sea. At least, it would do to 
cross a pond or small lake, and perhaps a river 
whose current is not very rapid. It will be neces- 
sary to have wheels to run on the ground, which 
may serve also for paddle wheels ; or what would 
be still better, it might have separate paddle wheels 
similar to those in common use. The ends of the 
boat must be turned up, so as to enable it to pass 
in and out of the water without wetting the deck. 

Having faintly described this new steamer, let 
us now imagine a little excursion with it. Suppose 
all the passengers safely on board, and she starts 
from some central part of the city, and enters the 

n 



154 MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS. 

bay by a gently inclined road. Very soon after 
the fore part of the boat touches the water, the fore 
wheels will leave the inclined plane ; and when 
she is afloat, the paddle wheels may be set in mo- 
tion. (In crossing some rivers, velocity enough 
may be given in descending, to drive her across to 
the inclined plane on the opposite side without the 
use of paddle wheels.) We may now visit the 
islands in the bay, catch a few fish, and afterwards 
proceed to Nahant, or pass up the beach at some 
suitable place, and return by land, crossing the 
ferry from Chelsea, to the place from whence we 
started. 

The following engraving will illustrate the thing 
more clearly. The name I have adopted is the 
Alligator; and I have endeavored to give it some- 
what the form of that animal. 



[Steamer Alligator, entering the water.] 




ENCOURAGBMENT OF GENIUS. 155 

SOCIETY FOR THE ENCOURAGEMENT 
OF MECHANICAL GENIUS. 

"The products of a man's mind are as much his property as 
those of his hands." 

If this assertion be true, ought not something to 
be done to secure the credit to those who spend 
much time and thought in perfecting useful inven- 
tions ? The patent office is not adequate to this. 
It has been stated that very few of the patents 
would stand if tried in a law-mill. There are so 
many points to be attended to — such as originality, 
the oldest patent, the claiming of too much or not 
enough, the not being sufficiently explicit, and not 
furnishing proper drawings or models, he, that 
the expenses of a law-suit are so frightful that a 
poor man dare not engage in it. 

Several plans have been proposed to effect this 
object. One is, for a company, after examining the 
project, to raise the needful to carry the plan into 
execution ; said company to become co-proprietors. 

1 will take the liberty to propose a plan. Sup- 
pose a society were formed in Boston, with a small 
fund — say one or two hundred dollars a year. Let 
this society hire a room, or what is still better, 
procure one at the expense of the state, for a place 
of general deposit of the articles of inventors. Let 
them invite inventors from all parts of the state to 
send their plans, models, he. to this room for ex- 
amination by suitable committees, appointed on 
various subjects. But instead of giving the suc- 
cessful inventor a sum of money, give him a cer- 
tificate, which will cost but a trifle, and he will 



156 MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS. 

thereby obtain a good name, which is better than 
rubies. Let this be done in public, and nothing 
will have a greater tendency to encourage him in 
his vocation. Publish an accoiwit of all the inven- 
tions annually. Undoubtedly such a book would 
^/ sell well ; and the community would thereby know 
the meritorious inventor from those that pirated 
other men's inventions. In a word, it would have 
a tendency to estabhsh a correct feeling in the 
community. 

\Ye may mention, in connection with the 
preceding, that at the annual meeting of the 
Massachusetts State Lyceum, in 1832, an ad- 
dress was delivered by Mr. Claxton on the sub- 
ject of assisting inventors, after which he intro- 
duced the following preamble and resolution : 

" Whereas, in the opinion of this meeting, many 
of our enterprising mechanics, for want of scientific 
knowledge, suitable books, and proper advice, 
frequently incur an expense of time and money to 
very little profit, in endeavoring to perfect useful 
inventions, which might have been avoided, in part 
at least, by timely application to some person com- 
petent to judge of their merits; and whereasit is 
believed to be in the power of this Lyceum to do 
something towards removing this evil ; therefore, 

Resolved, That this Lyceum adopt measures 
to remedy this defect, by appointing one or more 
committees of advice, procuring a place of deposit, 
inviting inventors to send in their plans, models, 
he. — and by such other means as may be deemed 
expedient and practicable, to promote the object." 



WARMING ROOBIS. 157 

This resolution was imanimously adopted, 
after some discussion, and referred to the Cu- 
rators, to be carried into effect in such a man- 
ner as they might deem expedient. Unfortu- 
nately, this, like too many other good plans, 
failed, through neglect, of being carried into 
execution. 



o-^J 



WARMING ROOMS. 

The following is a description, with drawings 
of a niethod which I suppose might be useful in 
very cold weather, to contribute to tlie comfort 
of those who cannot afford to keep fires in their 
sleeping rooms. Among many expedients which 
have been adopted for this purpose, some are 
unhealthy, and others absolutely dangerous ; w-e 
might, for instance, mention the use of warming 
pans, hot bricks, bottles of hot water, and burning 
charcoal, the last of which, in close rooms, is known 
to have been often a cause of death. 

During the late severe weather, my mind was 
turned to this subject ; and 1 endeavored to fix 
upon some method which would be free from the 
disadvantages of those above alluded to, and at the 
same time equally efficacious. 

It occurred to me that most small families have 
the convenience of heating water by their common 
culinary fire ; and that considerable heat was re- 
quired to raise three or four gallons of water to the 



158 



MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS. 



boiling point, and that if this water, so heated, 
could be placed in a small bed-room, so that its 
heat might be quickly distributed, (the fire-place, 
doors and windows being closed,) the room would 
be warmed, at least so as to be comfortable — the 
water being made ready just before bed-time. 

The next step then was, to provide that the^ 
heat of the water should be quickly abstracted, by 
exposing a large surface of it to the air, or the 
conducting material of the containing vessel. Sev- 
eral forms of apparatus suggested themselves, two 
of which are represented in the engravings, which 
it is proposed to construct of tin or copper. 

Fiff. 1. 




WARMING ROOMS. 



159 



Fia:. 2. 



Fig. 1, is a vessel consisting of several flat or 
oval shaped tubes, which are closed, except at the 
top, where is a tunnel to pour in the water ; and 
at the bottom is a cock to discharge it. It will be 
observed, that the tubes are connected at top and 
bottom, so that from one tunnel all the tubes are 
filled. 

Fig. 2, consists of two flattened 
or elliptic tubes, one within the 
other, between which the water 
is to be poured ; and the water 
will be thus exposed within and 
without to the air. A current 
of warm air will pass up the 
inner tube, which is perforated 
with small holes at the bottom, 
and open at top. A tunnel and 
stop-cock are provided, for the 
entrance and discharge of the 
water. 

The effect of both instruments 
will be at once perceived ; and 
it will be observed that the dan- 
ger from fire, as well as from 
impure or contaminated air from 
the heating apparatus, is entirely 
obviated. 




160 MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS. 

The following is the substance of an article 
written by Mr. Claxton about the time when 
the " ten hour system," so called, was agitated 
among us. Whatever opinions may be enter- 
tained about that subject, the remarks here 
made appear to us sound, and well worthy 
of consideration. 

THE PRESENT CONDITION OF THE 
WORKING CLASSES. 

In regard to the opportunities of the working 
classes for regular and systematic studies, under 
the present irregular system of labor, I would ob- 
serve, in the outset, that I believe these classes 
generally have tuany opportunities for study which 
they neglect ; and the common cry of want of 
time comes with such an ill grace from those who 
make it, that the common impression is, that if 
more leisure time were possessed by them, it 
would be no better employed. 

There are two things to be rigidly observed, or 
very litde improvement can be expected — which 
are, industry and economy ; but our industry must 
be constant, and we must economize time as well 
as money. These things appear to be absolutely 
necessary, in order to warrant any hopes of success 
in our efforts towards improvement ; and with 
them, a man must be dull indeed, or placed in a 
very peculiar situation, if he cannot make consider- 
able progress. 



CONDITION OF THE WORKING CLASSES. 161 

Let US take the example of a carpenter, or a 
bricklayer, if you please. He works from sunrise 
to sunset in the summer ; but in the winter he has 
so much leisure that the time hangs heavily on his 
hands. Why is it that such a man does not adopt 
some regular and systematic plan of study, during 
the slack season ? 1 suppose the reason is, because 
it is not fashionable, or he does not know how to 
set himself about it, or, what is quite as likely to 
be the case, he does not realize the immense value 
of a good education. He will perhaps reason in 
this way : What benefit would it be to me to 
know ever so much ? Should I get any more pay 
for my day's work? Would it enable me to han- 
dle the trowel or the plane any better? And so, 
instead of spending the winter in Boston, and at- 
tending to lectures, useful reading, he, many a 
man goes into the country, and spends the leisure 
season in lounging about stores and taverns, in bad 
weather, and in fair weather, practising the sublime 
sciences of squirrel hunting, turkey shooting, he. 

But take the case of those who are busy all the 
year, those, for instance, who labor in manufac- 
tories, who are employed from sun to sun in sum- 
mer, and from daylight to eight o'clock in the 
evening in winter. Some of them find time for 
improving the mind, and all of them find it for 
amusement ; and if some plan were devised to 
blend instruction with their amusement, their on- 
ward course would very soon be apparent. That 
many opportunities of study are neglected by the 
mass of the people, is proved by the fact that those 
persons among the working classes who have be- 
come eminent for knowledge, are those who have 



162 MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS. 

done the most work, who have been the most in- 
dustrious, and who have economized their time as 
well as their money. 

It will without doubt be acknowledged, that ap- 
prentices in Boston, at the present day, have a far 
better chance of acquiring knowledge than Franklin 
had when a boy. Books of various kinds are at 
hand, and numerous societies are open to them, all 
calculated to afford greater or less facilities for the 
acquisition of useful information. There are also 
many day and evening schools, where particular 
studies may be pursued. In fact, it appears to me 
that in Boston at least, the means of improvement 
are abundant ; and that the will is the principal 
thinir wanted. 



EXTRACTS FROM LETTERS. 

The two following extracts from letters of 
Mr. Claxton, will serve to show the cheerful 
disposition which he was accustomed to mani- 
fest in the prosecution of new and untried 
plans. The first comprises nearly the whole 
of a letter written to his brother in England, 
from Russia, on the event of leaving that 
country for the United States : 

" Dear Brother : — I suppose you are by this 
time ready to say that Russia is a land of silence. 
It was not my wish to remain silent so long ; but 



EXTRACTS FROM LETTERS. 163 

as I have been in a state of great uncertainty for 
the last twelve months, I did not think it of any 
service to trouble you with the passing events of 
the day ; for there are not many days without some 
fresh thing to engage our attention : and as I 
thought you would hear how I was through my 
wife's brother, I rather chose to defer what I had 
to say to you to some future opportunity. And 
now, it seems, I am compelled to say something. 

I am about leaving St. Petersburg for the United 
States. I havo had this determination for about 
eighteen months; and I assure you, 1 have been 
tired of this country and our concern, for that length 
of time. 1 made great effort to gel away last sum- 
mer, but could not. I hope, however, you will 
not think 1 have made myself unhappy during this 
time. Thank God, I have too much philosophy 
for that. 

Last summer I played thirteen weeks, without 
receiving a farthing of wages ; but could not get a 
passport to leave the country, until all the Ameri- 
can vessels were gone, and a passage to England 
would have been dangerous. My employers kept 
me out of my passport as long as they could ; and 
as I received it so late in the season that it was of 
no use to me, I made a new engagement to stay 
another winter. I recovered all my lost wages, 
and had my weekly wages as before ; so that I am 
in a much better condition to travel now, than I 
then was. 

Perhaps you may say, How came you to think 
of America ? — We have a worthy man here, who 
has been out from England two years, and being 
single, he has boarded with us for nearly that time ; 



164 MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS. 

and in fact, seems like a part of the family. He is 
a good mechanic, clerk and draughtsman, under- 
stands the French language, music, &;c., and is 
generally accomplished. He has some money and 
a good stock of tools. We have matured our plans 
together ; and I hope, by the blessing of God, to 
be able to do something some time hence, for you. 
The person of whom I have been speaking is about 
thirty-six years of age ; his name is Richard Fel- 
lowes, and his parents reside in London. He has 
been thinking of America for some years ; but it 
has been difficult for men in the metal trades, to 
get from England to tliat country, especially with 
their tools.* We have had opportunities of perus- 
ing works on the subject, as well as letters from 
persons residing there. 

If I do well, perhaps there may be an oppor- 
tunity for you, as your trade is good, and there is 
no difficulty of your leaving England. 

I have written without reserve, and shall leave 
you to consider of it two or three months. After 
you receive a letter from me in America, I shall 
expect your thoughts on the subject. I do not ex- 
pect, if you should determine to follow me, that it 
can be done this year. 

In referring to your letter which my wife brought 
me, I find you rather alarmed at your increasing 
family. In America, we are told, children are 
hailed as in the patriarchal ages ; they are ' towers 
of strength,' &,c. 

* It was for this reason that, when Mr. Claxton left Eng- 
land for Russia, he went under the assumed profession of a 
gardener. 



EXTRACTS FKOM LETTERS. 165 

I shall not fail, if please God I am spared, to 
give you all the information in my power. 1 firmly 
believe I could not do so much good to myself 
and family by returning to England, as otherwise, 
and am therefore determined to try this adventure. 
I can at least return to England, afterwards, if I 
do not succeed." 

Ill less than two years after his arrival in 
this country, Mr. Claxton was deprived of his 
amiable friend above mentioned, (Mr. Fel- 
lowes,) by his death, which occurred early in 
January, 1825 ; and it became his melancholy 
duty to communicate the mtelligence of this 
event to the friends of the deceased, who had 
a father yet living in England. 



In a letter dated at Copenhagen Roads, (on 
his way from Russia.) addressed to his wife's 
brother in London, Mr. Claxton thus calmly 
and good-humoredly remarks upon the pros- 
pects before him : 

" You may say, Why go to Boston, rather than 
to New York or Philadelphia? I would reply, 
that we were ready to go, and there were no ves- 
sels going to those parts ; to wait for them would 
run away with more money than travelling in 
America would cost ; and we stand as good a 
chance in or near Boston as anywhere else, be- 
cause people do not emigrate so much to that part. 



166 MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS. ' 

At any rate, I think we may stop there till next 
summer, and see how things turn out. We have 
learned, since leaving St. Petersburg, that there is 
an oil gas company about being established this 
spring at Boston. It is a place of considerable 
trade, and has a number of populous villages about 
it. At any rate, an industrious working mechanic 
need not be in want of the necessaries of life, in 
any part of the United States. We have no fears 
about us, if it please God to give us our health." 

In a subsequent letter to the same person, 
Mr. C. gives the following brief account of 
his voyage and arrival at the place of his des- 
tination : 

" We sailed from Cronstadt on the 12th of June, 
and on the 22d, I wrote you from Copenhagen 
Roads. On the 4th of July we lay becalmed 
between the Orkney and Shetland Isles, on the 
north of Scotland ; and on the 26th, we made the 
Banks of Newfoundland. After passing along the 
coast of Nova Scotia, on the 12th of August we 
saw land belonging to the American continent, (in 
New Hampshire.) On the 13th, at eight o'clock 
P. M., we dropped anchor in Boston Harbor. 
Next morning we went on shore, where we put up 
at a tavern, at a dollar each per day. 

On the 21st, we went to lodge at Mr. Phil pot's 
— an old shopmate of mine at Mr. Braithwaite's, 
in London, whom I accidentally met with in Bos- 
ton, where he has been about six years." 



RUSSIAN RECOMMENDATION. 167 



RUSSIAN RECOMMENDATION. 

Perhaps we need no better proof that a man 
who is so disposed may make himself useful 
almost everywhere, and to every body, than is 
given in the experience of Mr. Claxton. The 
following highly favorable recommendation, 
(alluded to on page 41 of the Memoir,) which 
he received on leaving Russia, from the Com- 
pany in whose employ he had been engaged, 
will show how his abilities were appreciated 
in that quarter of the world, and how well he 
succeeded, notwithstanding the various and de- 
pressing disadvantages under which he labored 
in the business which he undertook : 

" During a period of three years, having had 
ample opportunity of proving the talent and wit- 
nessing the sobriety, steadiness and diligence with 
wdiich the bearer, Timothy Claxton, has uniformly 
pursued the business entrusted to his care, we 
consider It a tribute due to him, to furnish him 
with this most indubitable testimony of our une- 
quivocal approbation of his conduct, during the 
period of his engagement with us. 

Having put up the apparatus at the government 
establishment in this city, the Glavnoi Stab^ for 
lighting that department with oil gas, and attended 
the making of the gas himself the first winter, viz., 
during February, March, April and May, 1821, 



168 MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS. 

and having at all times made himself useful in 
other branches of the gas business, we, the under- 
signed, do not hesitate to recommend him to any 
person in want of such a man." 



THE YOUNG MECHANIC. 

The history of this periodical reflects a credit 
upon Mr. Claxton, which he does not seem to 
have thought of appropriating to himself, in 
his notice of it, on page 90 of the Memoir. 
Although it was, as he says, " got up and 
conducted for some time by six memhers of the 
Mechanics' Lyceum," yet it is well known by 
those most concerned in the enterprise, that 
Mr. C. was in reality the prime mover and the 
smil of the work, during the greater part of its 
existence; and that upon him, together with 
Mr. Wightman, devolved nearly the whole 
responsibility of sustaining its scientific char- 
acter. Although its circulation was not exten- 
sive, and there were many discouraging cir- 
cumstances connected with its publication, he 
devoted his time and attention to it with a zeal 
and perseverance which a person of his then 
slender means could ill afford, and which could 
only have sprung from a noble desire to elevate 



, THE YOUNG MECHANIC. 

the character of the class with which he was 
connected by his profession, and thereby to 
benefit the community at large. And his efforts 
were not without success: for the work not only 
proved a valuable auxiliary to the Lyceum 
alluded to, but was evidently the means of 
inciting many 3^oung mechanics to engage in 
the study of the departments of science con- 
nected with their business, and of eliciting the 
results of scientific investigation and experi- 
ment from mechanics and others of various 
degrees of education. 

Two volumes of the work were published 
with the title " Young Mechanic," when it 
was found to be impossible for the Association 
to proceed farther without additional aid, and 
some material alteration. The following re- 
marks, from a subsequent account of their 
doings, published in the Mechanic, explain the 
situation of the matter at this period : 

" The Association, having labored for the maga- 
zine gratuitously since its commencement, and also 
incurred some loss in its publication, considered it 
against their duty to pursue the object farther, 
unless an arrangement could be made to place it 
upon a more firm basis. This they had learned 
could not be done without enlarging it, making a 
variety of improvements, and raising the price. 

Under these circumstances, it was thought best 
12 



170 MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS. 

to make an effort to increase the number of the 
Association, by inviting individuals interested in 
the progress of the arts and sciences to become 
members, and also to solicit donations from gentle- 
men interested in its objects. This measure was 
vigorously pursued, and the result has far exceeded 
their anticipations. They found other individuals 
willing to assist, not only in forwarding the maga^ 
zine, but in prosecuting measures for the encour- 
agement of mechanical genius." 

After the increase of their number, it was 
decided to form an Association, under the 
name of the Mechanic Fund Association ; the 
principal object being to collect funds, by the 
members taking one or more shares in tl;w3 
magazine, of twenty dollars each, and by 
donations, as just stated — which fund was to 
be devoted to the publication of the magazine, 
and the advancement of the Mechanic Arts in 
other ways, if there should be any surplus 
means. A committee was early appointed to 
solicit donations from gentlemen of other pro- 
fessions, whose efforts were quite successful. 
After sending a circular explaining their objects 
to various persons, well known as men of an 
elevated and philanthropic character, they 
received donations from the following gentle- 
men, some of which were very liberal, besides 
a few small sums from others : 



THE TOUNG MECHANIC. 171 

J. P. Gushing, Esq. ; Nathaniel Bowditch, L.L. D. ; Hon. 
Abbott Lawrence ; Amos Lawrence, Esq. ; Hon. Theodore 
Lyman ; Messrs. W. &. S. Lawrence & Stone; Hon. P. C. 
Brooks; P. T.Jackson, Esq.: Dr. Geo. C. Shattuck; Hon. 
S. T. Armstrong; Hon. Theodore Lyman, Jr.; Phiueas 
Upham, Esq. ; Geo. W. Lyman, Esq. ; H. F. Baker, Esq. ; 
George Darracott, Esq.; Hon. Charles Wells; Hon. S. A. 
Eliot; R. G. Shaw, Esq. ; Samuel Cabot, Esq.; Stephen 
White, Esq. ; F. C. Gray, Esq. ; Hon. B. T. Fickman ; B.B. 
Grant, Esq. ; Daniel Treadwell, Esq. 

Capt. Alexander Parris, President of the 
Association, also gave liberal sums from time 
to time, for the promotion of its objects; and 
the members generally were not backward in 
making any sacrifices which their circumstan- 
ces permitted. We may mention, in particular, 
Mr. Elisha Tower, (successor to Mr. Claxton 
in the presidency of the Mechanics' Lyceum.) 
and Mr. Dunbar B. Harris, as among the most 
efficient in this cause. 

The magazine was now enlarged, the title 
being changed to " Boston Mechanic," and was 
continued with spirit for two years after the do- 
nations just alluded to were received. But the 
Association being then square with the world, 
and feeling unable to incur any further respon- 
sibility in sustaining the work, on account of 
other demands upon their time and money, 
and being unwilling to make another appeal 
to the benevolent public, they suffered it to be 



172 MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS. 

discontinued, by being united with the Scien- 
tific Tracts. 

Thus terminated this humble effort of a few 
mdividuals to benefit their brethren of the 
mechanic classes ; though they accomplished 
even more than might have been expected, 
when we consider the fact that hardly any 
work of the kind, however valuable, has ever 
been known to support itself in this country, 
much less, to prove a profitable business. 
But, as they say in closing their remarks on 
the discontinuance of the work, they have the 
'' satisfaction of a well founded belief, that not 
a little good has been done by the publication 
of the Mechanic, and that it will still continue 
to do good, wherever its bound volumes shall 
be read." 



MR. CLAXTON'S INVENTIONS. 

It is hardly necessary to add anything to 
the account which Mr. Claxton has given of 
his inventions, especially his air-pumps, in 
the Memoir; but the following remarks of Dr. 
Jones, the able conductor of the Journal of the 
Franklin Institute, made on the occasion of 
noticing his patent air-pump in that Journal, 



THE BUNGAY LYCEUM. 173 

will show that his articles are not only in ex- 
tensive use, but approved of by tlie highest 
scientific authority, and deserving of the repu- 
tation they enjoy : 

"The patentee of this improved air-pump is a 
manufacturer of philosophical apparatus in Boston; 
and on a visit to that city, about three months 
since, we had an opportunity of inspecting his 
establishment, and of examining many of the in- 
struments made by him. It has been his aim to 
simplify the various articles which he makes, in 
order to supply the demand from Academies and 
Lyceums, at a price within the means of such 
institutions ; and we were both gratified and in- 
structed by the singular skill with which be has 
accomplished this purpose, without any sacrifice of 
utility. In several instances, we should have giv^en 
the preference to the simple articles of his make, 
as better calculated for the business of instruction 
than the more complex and costly ones usually 
employed, and described in the books." 



THE BUNGAY LYCEUM. 

We are unwilling to omit the opportunity of 
making some allusion to the exertions wb.ich 
Mr. Claxton has been making in his favorite 
field of labor — that of aiding the progress of 



174 MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS. 

intellectual improvement in societies organized 
for this object, since his return to England. 
Besides lecturing in various places, and before 
some of the most respectable institutions, we 
find him engaging with heart and hand in the 
work of establishing a Lyceum in the town of 
Bungay, (adjoining his native place,) on the 
American plan, and sparing no time or pains 
to ensure the successful accomplishment of this 
object. The Committee of the Lyceum, in an 
address to the public prefixed to their printed 
Rules and Regulations, say — 

*' This institution owes its origin to Mr. Timo- 
thy Claxtori, of America, who, during his recent 
stay in tliis town, expressed his solicitude that the 
uncultivated portions of the Juvenile and Working 
Classes of his native place might have an oppor- 
tunity of acquiring information on subjects promo- 
tive of social and moral improvement, and thus be 
deterred from the commission of evil, (the ever 
fruitful result of ignorance,) and be incited to the 
practice of good. His various thinkings, and 
frequent conversations with others, resulted in the 
adopiion of a plan for mutual improvement, similar, 
in many respects, to societies which exist, with 
growing advantage, in the L^nited States, as well 
as in England ; and from the former of which its 
present title is derived." 

The following testimonial of the kindly feel- 
ing and respect with which this Society regard 



THE BUNGAY LYCEUM. 175 

Mr. Claxton's efforts in their behalf, iUnstrates 
still more fully the success with which they 
were rewarded : 

To Mr. Timothy Claxton, late of Boston in America, 

We who are deputed by the Society known in 
this town by the name of the Bungay Lyceum, 
undertake to address you, our founder and precep- 
tor. You, sir, are just on the eve of taking leave 
of us; and as a great degree of uncertainty prevails 
whether we sijall In this life all meet again, we 
cannot let this opportunity pass, without presenting 
you with this small memento of our gratitude, for 
your past invaluable services. Although we have 
long felt the desirableness of an institution like 
this, yet, from the general impression on the public 
mind, that there was not literary taste enough in 
Bungay to find nutriment for the growing wants of 
such a society, and on the other hand, finding that 
high intellectual culture was but rarely blended 
with a true sympathy for the working classes of 
society, we had almost despaired of cur wishes 
ever being realized. But you, sir, knowing and 
feeling that men are not made useful, good or 
great, by merely being told to be such, but that 
human nature wants to be acted upon, not only 
supplied us with the nutriment which our under- 
standings needed, but kindly condescended to enter 
our ranks, to take us each by the hand ; you called 
us to duty and privilege, showed us the expansive 
nature of our own souls, and thereby led us to 
estimate the end for which our rational natures 
were given us. 



176 MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS. 

You have opened to us a path to intellectual 
improvement, and induced in us a desire to advance 
therein. We do, and shall ever gratefully remem- 
ber the time, property and energy you have so 
liberally bestowed on this society, both in its for- 
mation and through its first or incipient stage ; 
and we earnestly hope that your labors may not 
have been spent in vain ; that by a gracious Provi- 
dence, your valuable life may be continued through 
many years of health and usefulness ; and we 
earnestly trust we shall, at no distant period, be 
favored and honored with your presence again, 
when you may have the satisfaction of seeing the 
society in a prosperous state. 

On behalf of the Society, 

Abr. Asher Levy. 

Samuel Tibnam. 
BuNGAT, Dec. 29, 1836. 



"HINTS TO MECHANICS." 

We have had an opportunity of glancing 
at this interesting volume, in the preparation 
of which Mr. Claxton was assisted by our 
friend, B. B. Thatcher, Esq., while on kis 
recent visit to England. 

The book is enriched by several beautiful 
wood engravings, one of which represents the 
scene where Dr. Birkbeck first conceived the 



177 



noble plan of instructing the working men, 
of which Mr. Claxton has succeeded in show- 
ing him to have been the original designer. 
The investigation of this matter, as may be 
supposed, was attended with some trouble. 
"1 find," he says, in one of his letters, "more 
difficulty in collecting the information wanted 
than I expected. London is so very large, 
that it is difficult to find out what it centains, 
as persons generally are acquainted with only 
a small portion of it, and there has been until 
recently no vehicle of information on this sub- 
ject. The London Magazine is got up to sup- 
ply this deficiency." 

Among the results of his researches into 
the history of Mechanics' Listitutions, he in- 
forms us that "the version given to the world 
by the conductors of the Glasgow Mechanics' 
Magazine is not correct ; and that what is 
stated in Mr. Emerson's address before the 
Boston Mechanics' Institution corresponds with 
that account." 

An example or two of the manner in which 
the Hints to Mechanics has been noticed by 
the English press, will not only show what 
kind of reception the book has met with from 
the public there, but also serve to give a general 
idea of its nature and contents. The London 
Literary Gazette says — 



178 MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS. 

"This is a most meritorious work; a work full 
of good sense and useful information. After in- 
troducing the author himself, far better than a 
portrait, it treats of the desirableness of a sound 
education, of the habits, faults and vices incident 
to mechanics, and their reform and improvement ; 
of the evil effects of ignorance, and the beneficial 
effects of knowledge ; of the application to busi- 
ness, of the employment of time, and, in short, of 
every subject of interest to the mechanical orders, 
and to the community to which they belong, in 
which they form so important a part. There is 
a degree of solidity and applicability in the whole 
which deserves our highest praise." 

In the following commendatory note from 
Dr. Birkbeck to Mr. Claxton, on the receipt 
of a copy of the Hints to Mechanics, after men- 
tioning his late severe indisposition, he ex- 
presses his fall satisfaction of the statements 
there made, in regard to this subject, as fol- 
lows : 

''I have had an opportunity, at length, of pe- 
rusing your ' Hints,' and approve of them, as well 
as feel satisfied with the manner in which you 
have managed the subject of my claims, if so they 
may be termed. It is at least an honest and cor- 
rect statement of facts ; and be the impression or 
opinion what it may, that is produced by the ex- 
position, it cannot fail to render the matter more 
clear and satisfactory than anything which has 
before been written, to all persons who inquire 



"hints to mechanics. 179 

into the matter with minds honest and unpreju- 
diced. I feel therefore obliged as well as satisfied, 
by the position in which I have been placed by 
you. 

1 hope that your book will be extensively read 
by the working classes, as they cannot fail to be 
benefited by the admirable practical admonitions 
and encouragement which you have introduced. 
Your style is certainly w'ell adapted to reach the 
understanding and secure the conviction of the 
operatives. 

I remain with great respect yours truly, 

Geokge Birkbeck." 



1 CORNHILL, BOSTON; JUNE, 1839. 

LEONARD'S ARITHMETIC. 

A Practical Treatise on ARITHMETIC, wiierein every 

principle tauglit is explained in a simple and obvious nianiierj con- 
taining numerous Questions, and combining the useful propeHies of 
former works with the modern improvements. Being a Complete 
System in one book. To which is added, a Description of 
BOOK-KEEPING, with Examples for Practice.— By George 
Leonard, Jr. 

This work commences in a very simple manner, so as to 
be completely understood by a person of moderate capa- 
city, having no previous knowledge of the subject. It ad- 
vances by regular and almost imperceptible gradations, 
from the easy and obvious, to the more difficult parts; 
rendering the labors of the scholar agreeable and amusing, 
and saving the teacher much trouble and vexation. The 
reason of every rule is made evident, either by questions 
which lead the scholar to discover its truth, or by short, 
simple and lucid explanations. 

The articles are arranged in a more natural order than 
that usually employed, so that the operations in many sub- 
jects are performed by merely applying preceding princi- 
ples, without any new rule. As soon as any principle is 
explained, it is often employed in succeeding parts of the 
work, thereby recalling it, fixing it in the mind, and show- 
ing its practical application. 

There is no superficial or mutilated account of any sub- 
ject; all that is important concerning it being given ; and 
this is done, not only within the bounds usually employed, 
but often so as to enhance the simplicity of the work. 



USEFUL WORKS 



The subjects of Mensuration and Simple Machines are 
clearly explained, and illustrated by neat cuts, of which the 
following is a s{)eciinen : 



/ 






) 


) 



^ 



The subject of Book-Keeping will be found to be treated 
in a most useful and practical manner ; for it contains not 
only the proper specimens and explanations, but the scholar 
is required to form a book, and arrange in it transactions 
which are stated in a promiscuous manner. 

Copious Questions are placed at the bottom of each page. 
They resemble their appropriate answers in phraseology, 
whereby much time and trouble is saved the learner, as 
well as the instnicter. 



PUBLISHED BY G. W. LIGHT. 



The simplicity of the work, the regular gradations by 
which it proceeds from the easy and obvious parts, to those 
which are more difficult, combined with the numerous 
questions, and the peculiar adaptation to their respective 
answers, render this arithmetic superior for the purpose of 
Self-Instruction. It is plain and practical, and therefore 
well fitted for the Farmer and Mechanic. No arithmetic 
contains more that is useful for the Merchant, or better 
adapted to his purpose ; nor is the mode of reasoning and 
general plan ill suited to the Scientific or Literary Student, 

Q^ Ahhough this work has been out of press but a few 
weeks, several distinguished teachers have decided to 
introduce it into their schools, and it has received the 
following 

COMMENDATIONS. 

" We are frank to confess that we had seen new arithmetics and 
geographies and grammars, all claiming to be improved ones, till we 
wore ready to be heart sick at the sight of them. But here comes one 
more, and circumstances having led us to examine it, we will with all 
honesty, make one more confession, which is, that we like it. Without 
making very high claims, without an}' claims which are immodest, it 
really seems to us to embrace important improvements One of these 
improvements consists in placing Federal Money after Decimal Frac- 
tions, and not before them, as has usually — we know not but always — 
been done. The Scjuare and Cube Root are also made more intelli- 
gible than m any work of the kind we have seen. The articles on 
JVIensuration and Simple Machines are of first rale importance. Book- 
keeping, or as the author modestly calls it, a descripiion of book-keep-- 
ing. seems to us highly desirable in a work of this kind, and we are 
glad to witness the present effort. We do not value the questions at 
the bottom of the pages as highly as many teachers do ; nevertheless 
the}' may be useful to some persons. In general, however, we are very 
much pleased with the work ; and we wish it were introduced into all 
our schools."' — Annals of Education, Boston. 

" This work seems destined to take a high place among the useful 
treatises of the same class, for which the literary emporium is distin- 
guished. We have not given it the examination proper for a thorough 
opinion of our own, but many of our best critical authorities of the 
dailies at the north, speak of it in terms which leave no question in our 
mind as to its merits. Gentlemen who have experience, too, in math^ 
matical teaching, commend it to us warmly. We doubt not those who 
are on the watch among us for improved school books, will do well to 
examine Mr. Leonard's. — U. S. Gazette, Philadelphia. 



USEFUL WORKS 



" We have seen this work highly commended, and have come to the 
conclusion that it deserves great praise, and is likely to take rank 
accordingly among oar most useful and popuhir school books. It is 
well known how many of tliese treatises are mere impositions — specu- 
lations — yankeeisms ; got up to go a liille while, like a well-lacquered 
Connectiiul clock, or a broken-winded horse in a jockey's hands. This 
is no such boi>k. 7'he pains bestowed on it are manifest on every 
page ; we have never seen a more conscientiously industrious and 
careful work of any kind. We think, too, that this labor is well be- 
stowed 5 that it tells well. Mr. Leonard thorouglily understands his 
subject 5 and his heart is in it. He has seen and suffered the deficien- 
cies of ordinary books, and has iletermined to produce one which 
should avoid all these, and at the sanae time retain all that is worth 
retaining aboui them, including whatever may be considered the real 
arithmetical improvements of the day. This object we believe he 
has accomplished in a remarkable degree. We approve specially ol" 
the good sense shown in the eminent clearness of the explanations, 
which art; never tedious and obscure. The arrangement, too. is jast 
what it should he. This is enough to give the work a distinct charac- 
ter." — Boston Courier. 

" We are much pleased with this work. All previous treatises on 
this subject are rendered, in a great degree, unintelligible to beginners, 
by the confused manner in which the subjects following the simple 
rules are introduced. From a number of years' experience in teaching, 
we became convinced that a knowledge of the simple fractions, both 
v^ulgar and decimal, is indispensably' necessary to e\'Qry learner, to a 
successful prosecution of the study of arithmetic, after having become 
acquainted with the five elementary rules. For, after these rules, there 
are very few in arithmetic but what are based on vulgar fractions. In 
tliis work, fractions immediately follow the simple rules, and the work 
is arranged in such a way, that the various subjects follow each other 
in a natural and consecutive manner." — Zion's Herald, Boston. 

" We mentioned this book the other day in a hasty way, for which 
our conscience, on second thought, reproaches us. The fact is, that in 
a country of universal education, or at least schooling, like this, a new 
school book is a matter of some moment. If bad, it is likel3' to do no 
little harm ; if good, on the contrary, its sphere of usefulness is pro- 
portionally wide. The immense circulation of some of the arithmetics, 
particularly, is well known to our readers. W^e hope Mr. Leonard's 
book may be treated as well in proportion to its real merit, for of this 
we are satisfied. Brief and clear in its explanations, admirably ar- 
ranged, full of just the practical information which the boys in the 
schools, all over the country, really want and really relish, it cannot 
fail to succeed. We hare no space for a notice to do it justice in our 
columns, but we commend it heartily to the attention of comniittees 
and teachers."— iVew York Comercial Advertiser. 

** The public is already in possession of several valuable arithmetics, 
the merits of which we are not inclined to deny nor depreciate j but 
we do think that the book in question combines their advantages, and 
besides, has peculiarities which render it quite superior to any other 
Vfork of the kind."— £ay Statt Democrat, Boston. 



PUBLISHED BY G. W. LIGHT. 



"We are not in the habit of praising- new school books. We distrust 
such notices for the most part. But few of the myriad treatises pub- 
lished in this land of universal schooling, are really worth one's powder 
— for there is as much of nutmeg humbug in this business as in most 
others. However, this is but preface to Mr. Leonard's book, which we 
feel bound to make an exception to common rules. It is itself an 
exception. We feel confident this work will have a great run 5 and 
what is more, ihat it deserves it. We have pride in seeing- such books 
go from the Boston press. We trust something in this case to the report 
of those experienced in teaching ; but to any reader's observation, the 
clearness, completeness, capital arrangement, and remarkable -practi- 
cability of Leonard's book, must commend themselves at once. We 
earnestly hope it m ay meet a * fair field,' and in that case it will need 
' no favor.' " — Boston Transcript. 

" The school books, not less than the schools, of Boston, have long 
been an honor to the city. Those of Pierpont, Bailey, Dillaway, 
Leverett, Felton, Colburn, Emerson, and many more, of our own 
generation, will occur to the reader in ihis category. To this list we 
now have a new name to add. Mr. Leonard has produced a sterling 
treatise — an Arithmetic just such as the common schools want; lucid, 
simple, complete, in an eminent degree, and so far as the real avail- 
ability of its contents is concerned, far the mo?,i practical work of the 
kind — the best calculated for general popularity — for great usefulness, 
among farmers and mechanics especially, that we have ever seen. 
We are convinced, on the whole, by testimony to the worth of this 
work from sources at once disinterested and experienced, independent 
of our own examination, that it is destined to have what is called a 
great run — and still more, that it deserves it. Our columns are no 
place for a notice which would do it justice. But we cordially com- 
mend it to Teachers and Committees." — Boston Atlas. 

^ Its great advantages are, its simplicity, its most admirable ar- 
rangement, and its remarkable adaptedness to popular and practical 
use. For self-instruction particularly, and for the farmer and mechanic, 
we know of no treatise to be compared with it." — Bangor WJiig. 

{^^ We are veiy desirous that this Arithmetic should be 
examined by all interested in Education, believing it will 
be found to be a superior work for Schools, Academies, 
&€., and also for Self-Instruction. 

The work is printed in neat Boston school book style, on 
good paper, and is well bound. 

Copies to Teachers for examination (with a view to intro- 
ducing it) gratis. 
13 



USEFUL WORKS 



SCIENTIFIC TRACTS, 

FOR THE 

DIFFUSION OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 

COMPLETE IN ONE VOLUME. 

Illustrated by an Engraving of the " Tree of Philosophy/'^ 




This is one of the most valuable books for Family, Town 
and other Libraries, as well as for individuals. It contains 
twelve Tracts, of about 24 pages each, on interesting sub- 
jects, by some of the best writers in the community, besides 
other miscellaneous matter. It is the last series of Scientific 
Tracts published, and has no connection with any former 
series. This work has so high a reputation in the com- 
munity, that it is unnecessary to give a detailed description 
of it. 

" Both the matter and the manner of this publication appear to us 
admirably calculated to promote the great object for which it is de- 
signed — the 'diffusion of useful knowledge' among all classes of 
society} and we trust it will have an extensive circulation."— OHa 
State Journal. 

"A highly valuable family work."— ^osion Daily Advocate. 

" We know of no work more suitable for all classes." — Merc. Journ, 



PUBLISHED BY G. W. LIGHT. 



THE BOSTON MECHANIC, 



Journal of the Useful Arts and Sciences. 



EDITED BY PRACTICAL MEN. 

Illustrated by numerous Cuts, and neatly bound. 




This work, which includes all that was published of the 
" Young Mechanic," is the Magazine which is noticed in 
the foregoing Memoir, and from which extracts are made in 
the Miscellaneous Papers. 

It is intended to afford scientific information and practi- 
cal instruction in the MECHANIC ARTS, in such a form 
as to be useful and acceptable to Manufacturers, Master 
Mechanics, Journeymen and Apprentices. A large number 



8 USEFUL WORKS. 



of mechanical contrivances, inventions, &c., are illustrated 
by Cuts. 

The work has been recommended by the two former 
Mayors of Boston, and Professor Treadwell of Harvard 
College, as follows : 

''We, the subscribers, consider the '■ Mechanic and Journal of the 
Useful Arts and Sciences/ a work highly meritorious and useful to 
Mechanics, and through them to the community at large. 

Samuel T. Armstrong. 

Theodore Lyman, Jr. 

Daniel Treadwell." 

'■'■ It is particularly valuable for mechanics, every one of whom, who 
desires to improve in his profession, should supply himself with it." — 
Tennessee Farmer. 

'^ It contains a large varietj'^ of useful matter." — Mercantile Journal. 

" We would recommend it to every mechanic in the United States." 
—Ohio Free Press. 

03^ But few complete sets now remain on hand. Sold 
at half the former 'price. 



The preceding, together with various popular and useful works in 
other departments, are published by 

GEO. W. LIGHT, 1 Combill, Boston, 
and 126 Fulton Street, New York. 



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